IN GOOD COMPANY discussion

That looks really good.

I read a few reviews of PS that compared him to a young John Cusack. I'd say that's not too far off the mark.

Didn't this use to be called SYNERGY? I kinda liked that name better, but still it looks pretty good.
I loved About A Boy, and Topher Grace has got the chops, so I'll definitely give it a look when it comes out.

So is this movie about Dennis Quaid dealing with downsizing, Topher Grace dealing with expectations, or everyone gangbanging Scarlett Johanssen? If the movie doesn't committ, it could be biting off more than it can chew. Still, I loved ABOUT A BOY, and I'd watch this.

It goes wide this weekend. Anyone else seen it? I dug About a Boy and most of the other movies opening look shitty, so...

Just got back from a screening and I have to say I really enjoyed the film. Both Dennis Quaid and Topher Grace were great, and had a wonderful chemistry on screen. Like About A Boy, it's a touching story punctuated with a good bit of humor. I think that if you liked About A Boy then you'll get your money's worth.

Definitely a very satisfying film. Great way to start off the new year. Of course, after the film ended, some people behind us were complaining about the non-hollywood ending, to which another person in thier group responded, "Well, it's an 'art film'."

Sigh.

Still not sure why they changed the title from Synergy, though.

I got back from a 5 day trip in San Antonio with my Boss who is about 15 years older than me on Thursday night.

That being said.. I really enjoyed this movie. There is a lot of truth to the older/younger relationship that is played out in the corporate world in this movie.

Topher was great and so was Dennis. John Cho cameo was nice too.

Its funny that around this time last year the first film I saw was Garden State. I was so glad I saw it.
I fill the same way about In Good Company. It's not a feel good movie of the year. It's a film that is relate-able whether you are a young adult or older. It has humorous elements... it has elements of realism. It made me glad I saw it.

I'd recommend it to my friends and I'd recommend it to my boss.

The difference being that this film is about a thousand times better than Garden State.

It's cute. Frequently funny. Quaid rules the screen. It's not a drop-everything-and-rush-to-the-theater flick, but it's solid.

I really enjoyed it. Grace and Quaid are really top notch here, probably Quaid moreso just because I'm not used to him being so good in such a good film in a while. He's really acting here, and why he's been so successful is abundantly clear. Topher has a lot going for him and gives a great performance, unfortunately he sucked last night on SNL. I liked how the film was able to make a somewhat anti-corporate statement without completely condemning it. Quaid is everything that can be good, while Grace/McDowell represents all of the problems.

Good Company is just simply put...better than Good.

Solid flick. Dennis Quaid is solid as always. Topher Grace is exceptionally amazing here, playing (someone said it already) a young John Cusack. Funny, touching and just the right amount of drama makes this movie worthy of DVD purchase.

The scene when they are at the house for dinner and in the matter of about ten minutes everything goes wrong in the most hilairious way from the Dennis Quaid breaking into his younger daughters phone coversation to make a threat to the moment where he and his wife drop the dinner to the floor and she experiences the affects of pregency. (i cannot spell).

The ending was not Hollywood, but it was perfect. It set every character free where they needed to go, not where we wanted them to go.

As good or maybe inches better than Garden State (which is powerful and awesome in it's own right).

10/10

I really enjoyed this. You've got to suspend your disbelief pretty heavily for a couple of the characters' actions, but the performances from Quaid and Grace are so good you're will to let it go. After this and About a Boy, I'll see anything Weitz does from here on out.

I'm curious to know which scenes required that level of suspension of disbelief for you. One of the things I loved about this movie was that each character and their actions seemed pretty real. There was little to nothing that I felt was over-the-top or hard to believe.

They both had to do with Grace's character. I never bought that he would open up to Johanssen like that out of the blue in the living room. I also couldn't see him pulling the "if you fire him, you have to fire me" routine.

Keep in mind this is coming from someone who's had his spirit crushed by 5 and a half years in the corporate world, so I may be a little biased.

"Quaid moreso just because I'm not used to him being so good in such a good film in a while"

Have not seen Far From Heaven I guess

speaking of Quaid anybody else dig his role in The Parent Trap remake?

"If you ever give my daughter a joint or an alcoholic beverage, I will hunt you down and neuter you." First time I've heard the audience applaud in a non-fantasy/comic film.

Great little film and very emotionally true. Weitz seems to becoming great at the resolved/unresolved ending, with this and About it Boy he's certainly become one to watch from now on. So funny, too, because I hate the shit out of American Pie.

Quaid was great--I loved how he seemed to be incorporating some of Grace's mannerisims early on and vice versa. You really get the sense that Dan was a lot like Carter, and Carter might become like Dan, which makes the resolution all the more powerful. Grace was a guy I've liked since that 70s Show and Traffic, but never really paid much attention to as an actor. I will now--I hope to see him in movies for the next thirty years. Great supporting turns from Johannson, Helgenberger, and David Paymer.

My only complaint? No way NYU dorms look like that. No way.

Grace is really smart. He waited for the Ashton Kutcher nonsense to burn off, inobtrusively turning in some great performances, and now suddenly he's the 70s Show graduate with an actual career.

Good movie, but a tad frustrating, because it could have been great. It needed a sharper script, maybe some better dialogue. This is a great example of a good director and actors breathing life into a limp high-concept script. It's notable that the "small moments" felt believable, whereas the broader beats and gags were pretty lame. I swear no one in my theater so much as chuckled (except maybe for the tyrannosaur cellphone bit) for the first 20 minutes. Things pick up when Carter goes to dinner, and by the end the actors have won you over.

I couldn't help but feel for Carter more than Dan. Not just because I'm young, but because, hell,

*SPOILER*

the guy gets rather heartlessly dumped *twice* in the course of the story. Sorry, I always found "I'm too busy to get involved in a relationship" to be an incredibly lame excuse for breaking up with someone. Make the frigging time, or don't lead them on in the first place. And no, that's not based on any personal experience, just something that always bothered me.

*END SPOILER*

I saw it earlier this afternoon and enjoyed it very much. I was quite impressed with Topher Grace. There was a Newsweek article a couple of weeks ago that said he seems like the next everyman/Tom Hanks/Jack Lemmon type but I agree that John Cusack is a lot more accurate. From the trailer I thought it was mostly gonna be Dan's story but I liked that the movie gave fairly equal development both to Dan and Carter. It would have been easy to make it all about what Dan is going through while Carter is a one-dimensional inexperienced pipsqueak. Weitz balanced the film very well.

Did anyone else enjoy the soundtrack? I noticed The Shins, Iron & Wine, David Byrne, and possibly a Badly Drawn Boy song near the end. I think I recognized the song. He did the score for About a Boy so it would make sense...

4 out of 5. The relationship parts of the film work perfectly. The only problems for me were on the buisness end. Now I'm not a business person so someone tell me: do people actually talk about catch phrashes without any clue of what they are talking about. I could understand middle managment doing it but when the big boss comes in and makes the speech about SYNERGY wouldn't he be too old to believe in crap like that? From what I've seen of Trump, Ted Turner, Bill Gates, etc is they are people about making money, not about bringing their vision of a buisness utopia together.