Company Man

It was a familiar scenario. I was talking with my 20ish year old niece about which films we have watched recently, and at the top of her list of movies I should see was, In Good Company. Of course I had seen the trailer, but beyond that, I knew almost nothing about it. You can imagine my surprise, as I discovered that one of the men responsible for the American Pie comedies wrote and directed this film. As a fan of the AP trilogy, I was even more curious, to see the end result.

Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a slightly weary yet still confident advertising exec and dedicated family man. He seems to have it all... He is a loving father with a noble existence, if you will, that somehow keeps him going. Enter Carter Duryea (Topher Grace best known for his now departed role on FOX-TVs That 70's Show), a cocky young upstart who is hired to replace him. Before long, Dan is forced to be deferential to his new baby-faced boss. To make matters worse, that extends to his own dinner table when Dan begins dating his lovely daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson).

I must say that after watching In Good Company, I was duly impressed that director Paul Weitz, could make a film like this, one with very "real" characters. But wait, is it that much of a stretch? One of the best things about the AP films, was how he and his brother Chris were able to infuse real character moments, amid the hilarious and raucous adult humor ala Porky's. Quaid is pitch perfect as Dan. You really buy into his situation almost immediately, thanks to his portrayal, that avoids falling into very sitcom like trapping given the set-up. Grace proves that if he is handed the right material, he can have a good long film career, after deciding to limit his TV gig. As a screen team, the two stars work well together, and then adding the adorable Johanssen to the mix, adds wonderful sparkle. The script, written by Weitz, rarely falters, but does have a few syrupy moments just the same.

The first, and best, extra on the DVD is the audio commentary with Weitz and Grace. The two obviously became very friendly while working on the film, and that certainly shows on this track. The track is breezy and conversational, which makes for a very entertaining experience. The pair tell plenty of fun anecdotes about the production. There's an approximately 23-minute featurette called "Synergy," which can either be viewed as one whole or as seven separate segments "Stars," "Youth," "Getting Older," "Real Life," "New York Locations," "Editing," and "Story". All of this stuff is your basic behind-the-scenes fare. The best segment is "Story," as it tells about the impetus of the film and the actors' takes on the power of the story itself. There are also ten deleted scenes with optional commentary from Writer/Director Paul Weitz. The scenes run about 16 minutes long and include some very funny moments that simply didn't help the flow of the film. Finally, rounding out the disc are a series of static biographies and filmographies for select cast/crew.

What a good film. In Good Company takes the romantic comedy and goes where few have--building around a father-son dynamic, rather then the typical boy meets girl. Paul Weitz proved he can do all kinds of stuff. The American Pie films are lots of fun. And in a not too different way so is this film...