In Good Company
Posted By Paul on January 13, 2005
Went down to Pittsburgh last night to the pre-screening of In Good Company. This was in conjunction with the deal I wrote about a few days ago. It all worked out very good. I’m still not entirely clear on what role exactly this Grace Hill Media has in this; most of the people there seemed to be there as a result of some radio promotion.
Since I had never been to any kind of pre-screening deal, with the purpose to be to review a movie, I didn’t know what to expect, but thought maybe there would be someone there from the movie studio (Universal) or this Grace Hill Media to maybe at least give out some sort of promo materials and/or info about the movie. There wasn’t anyone there, just a bunch of people wandering around trying to figure out where we were supposed to go. That aspect of it was a little disappointing, almost unnerving, but everything else was excellent.
Dennis Quaid plays Dan Foreman, an aging advertising executive at a popular sports magazine called Sports America. After a corporate merger, the parent company of the magazine is taken over by a large conglomerate called Globecom, lead by its mythical CEO Teddy K (Malcolm McDowell). Globecom brings in some new blood to take over Sports America and Foreman finds he has been demoted. He soon meets his new boss, a 26-year-old hotshot named Carter Duryea (Topher Grace). Carter is fast on the rise at Globecom and sees the opportunity as a stepping stone towards a promising corporate career.
While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Carter cross-promotes the magazine with everything possible that is owned by Globecom under the same corporate umbrella. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters–Alex (Scarlett Johansson), age 18, and Jana ( Zena Grey), age 16–and is shocked when his wife ( Marg Helgenberger) tells him she’s pregnant with a new child. Between college tuition, the mortgage and a new baby, Dan can’t afford to lose his job in the wave of corporate layoffs. Carter has problems of his own. While his career is going full force ahead, his wife of only seven months has recently left him. His personal life is virtually nonexistent. He soon latches onto Foreman’s idealistic home life and invites himself to dinner at the Foreman house, where he gets to know Foreman’s daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson). The two embark on a secret romance as Carter tries to clasp to a life he soon discovers may not be what he wants at all.
Mrs Freak didn’t like the ending at all, and based on what conversation I overheard afterwords, neither did a lot of others folks.
The movie has it’s very funny moments, it’s life lessons learned moments, and some sad moments. It offers a look at the McWorld globalization of our economy, and shows that all that glitters is not gold. An entertaining movie, good for a night out.
Quite frankly I don’t know how ‘professional’ reviewers manage to put everything in two or three paragraphs, make it all tie together, and have it come out as readable. In the last few days I’ve come to several realizations about myself and what I can (and can’t) do; I finally have concluded that I suck at photography, web design, online auctions, and to that I now add writing. When I find something that I can do well, besides taking up space and wasting air someone else could breathe, I’ll be sure to let you know.
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