In Good Company

Year: 2004

Grade: B-

Country: USA

Director: Weitz

Review

let me start the review by getting two things cleared up: scarlett johansson is decent looking, but not hot; and she’s not hollywood’s hot new talent. she’s a serviceable actress who uses her lips too much, and that’s about it. onto the review. the film has two major focuses: the indictment of corporate american culture and generational differences. that said, the film revolves around topher grace more than anything else. the critique of corporate america was fairly prosaic – a sanitized version of anything resembling a real assault on the fundamental flaws of corporate thinking. it did brush up against some of the more obvious weak points of corporate america, and it usually did so to comic effect, which is about as much as you can expect from a film of this type. the exploration of generational differences also lacked great depth, but did get the mental wheels turning a bit and provided even more laughs. quaid and grace were both good in their roles and they had a chemistry that exceeded some of the direction. that is, the director (weitz) had more of a good thing than he knew and under-edited as a result. weitz, though, did use music fairly well. byrne’s opening track to his newest album opens the film and sets the somewhat somber tone of the picture rather well. it’s not that the film is somber or maudlin overall, but it certainly does explore some darker regions of grace’s psyche – his failed marriage, his sense of inertia, his lack of a real home, etc. it’s not a great film, but it has some touching moments, is consistently humorous and is, overall, well-constructed.

Watched in theater