The Sandspur

Issue date: 2/4/05 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: IMDB.COM

Media Credit: IMDB.COM GREAT CAST: Talented new actors, Topher Grace and Scarlett Johansson, light up the screen.

With the hectic holiday season over, the movie theatres have returned to some semblance of normalcy, if not on screen then instead in the lines outside the cinema. But when most blockbusters have ended their mega-million dollar run a new cinematic gem has emerged in the romantic comedy-drama In Good Company.

In Good Company is sadly a movie that will probably be severely overlooked by critics and moviegoers alike because of its rather mundane storyline spotlight of a world without mystical magic, constant gunfire, and high profile Hollywood hunks. The piece instead follows the life of the 52 year old magazine ad executive Dan Foreman, played by Dennis Quaid (Flight of the Phoenix, Frequency), who is simultaneously barraged with the financial obligations of a college-bound daughter, played by the lovely Scarlett Johansson (Girl with a Pearl Earring, Lost in Translation), a pregnant wife, played by Marg Helgenberger (CSI), and a demotion when his company is bought out.

To only make matters worse, the new boss ushered in by Foreman's latest parent company is the cutthroat go-getter Carter Duryea, played by Topher Grace (That 70s Show, Win A Date with Tad Hamilton!), who is almost half his age. When the newly appointed Duryea finds his recent marriage and his sales numbers slowly slipping away, he turns to the knowledgeable Foreman and surprisingly finds friendship and a humorous fatherly acceptance. But In Good Company is not without its plot complications, mostly notably when the recently divorced Duryea finds love in Foreman's daughter Alex (Johansson) and Foreman in turn puts enough pressure on Duryea and the parent company that he frequently risks losing his job.

In Good Company is by far one of the most well done romantic-comedy-drama films to emerge in the last few years. Director Paul Weitz (American Pie, American Wedding) makes you cry, laugh, smile and frown all at the same time in only the way that his movies can. In Good Company saves itself from being an overly sappy and predictable film, and the combined acting talents of Quaid and Grace make it a must see movie for this February.

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