In Good Company (2004)

A middle-aged ad exec is faced with a new boss who's nearly half his age... and who also happens to be sleeping with his daughter.

Director:

Paul Weitz

Writer:

Paul Weitz

Stars:

Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dennis Quaid	...	Dan
Topher Grace	...	Carter
Scarlett Johansson	...	Alex
Marg Helgenberger	...	Ann
David Paymer	...	Morty
Clark Gregg	...	Steckle
Philip Baker Hall	...	Eugene Kalb
Selma Blair	...	Kimberly
Frankie Faison	...	Corwin
Ty Burrell	...	Enrique Colon
Kevin Chapman	...	Lou
Amy Aquino	...	Alicia
Zena Grey	...	Jana
Colleen Camp	...	Receptionist
Lauren Tom	...	Obstetrician

Storyline

Dan is a 51 year old executive who learns that his company is being restructured and he is being demoted. Carter, who is 26, replaces him. Dan who has two teenage daughters with another on the way, decides to suck it up and work for Carter. Dan and Carter's working relationship is tested when Carter begins a relationship with Alex, who is Dan's daughter.

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Plot Keywords:

new york city new york | pizza | crying | taxi | watching tv | 

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Taglines:

He's rich, young and handsome. He's in love with you and he's your dad's boss.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content and drug references

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dan (Dennis Quaid) and Alex (Scarlett Johansson) last name is Foreman. Topher Grace (Carter) played Eric Foreman in the TV series That 70's Show

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Goofs

When Dan confronts his daughter outside at the restaurant, she is standing about a foot from one of the potted trees surrounding the entrance. After she chases her father about fifteen feet down the sidewalk and gets insulted by him, her reaction shot shows her again about a foot from the original tree.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Anchorwoman: After months of speculation, analysts expect an announcement this week that GlobeCom International will acquire Waterman Publishing and its flagship magazine, Sports America. The man at the helm of GlobeCom, billionaire media magnate Teddy K., has been on a spending spree recently, acquiring a food service company, a cable operator, and two telecommunications providers in deals totaling more than $13 billion. And how did one lucky ferret owner come to own the largest dog treat ...

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Connections

Featured in Hollywood's Top Ten: Dennis Quaid Movies (2011)

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Soundtracks

Gone for Good
(2003)
Written by James Mercer (as James R. Mercer)
Performed by The Shins
Courtesy of Sub Pop Records

User Reviews

Sprightly, Well-Acted Comedy/Drama That Overcomes the Threat of Predictability

Director/scriptwriter Paul Weitz was blessed with a top cast for his comedy/drama "In Good Company." Here's a film that in some ways resembles and is a bit of a genre successor to "The Graduate," that 1960s iconoclastic gem. Even the new songs complement the story in the same way Simon and Garfunkel's lyrics melded with the story line in "The Graduate." Dennis Quaid as Dan Foreman is in his early fifties, a contented manager of a sports mag's ad department. His home life seems almost too good to be true. He loves his wife, Ann (Marg Helgenbergen) and gets on well with his two teenage daughters. The older one, Alex (Scarlett Johansson, in another deep and convincing performance), has a tennis scholarship to a New York State public university where the tuition isn't exactly sky high. But she wants to transfer to New York University in Greenwich Village to study creative writing where the cost is very, very steep.

Almost before you can get into your tub of popcorn Dan is struck with multiple whammies. His magazine is taken over by a mega-corporate raider, Teddy K, and a new ad department honcho, Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), only twenty-six years young, bounces Dan from his executive office while also anointing him as his designated "wingman." Earnest, inexperienced, foppish, supercilious and dangerous in that special way the inept invariably are, he poses a real threat to Dan's future. And Dan is worried about his future because Ann announces she's having a change-of-life baby.

And then Scarlett meets Carter. You need me to tell you what Dan's next mid-life crisis will be? "In Good Company" could have been just a mildly amusing sitcom. The fast-paced acting and the excellence of the cast - especially Quaid and young (she's still a teen) Johansson - kept me glued to the screen for the whole showing. And I admit to being troubled by the issues underlying and scenes showing peremptory firings. There's some ambiguity here - is that the only way for a prosperous corporation to go? Dan's pain at losing long-time co-workers is deeply etched on his face but is he more sentimental and loyal than realistic? I don't know. From the vantage point of a tenured academic with lifetime employment I found myself dragged into questions that I think Weitz meant to raise. Well, he did anyway.

Small roles are well performed by David Paymer as one of Dan's subordinates and Selma Blair who briefly shows up in the beginning as Carter's new wife, Kimberly. I always enjoy seeing this fine actress but her talent is wasted in brief roles.

And Manhattan restaurants where I eat and stores where I shop are all over the well-shot scenes and that always makes me happy.

A very good film.

9/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Russia]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 January 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Synergy

Filming Locations:

7th & Hope Streets, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$151,750, 2 January 2005

Gross USA:

$45,806,659

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$61,315,215

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Depth of Field

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1