In Good Company

If you want to feel a little depressed and get a good dose of reality, watch this movie. It stars Dennis Quaid, Scarlet Johannson and that guy from That 70's show- can't remember his name. What's interesting is to see different actors play complete opposites. The guy from the 70's show, Carter in this movie, is a very successful young businessman who lucks out and impresses his boss enough to land his dream job by running the sales division of a sports magazine during a takeover by his company Global Com. In this day and age where everyone is merging and no one is sure of their jobs based on the economy and the bottom line, this movie is too real. Losing your job at 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 is all the same. You just have more to lose when you have a family to support. And how would you deal with that emotionally?

Carter is supposed to fire Dennis Quaid. But he's smart enough to know he can't do this job without him so he reains Quaid and fires everyone else. Carter's personal life becomes a shambles and he invites himself over for dinner with Quaid's family. He's a 26 year old who meets Quaid's daughter played by Johannson who is going to NYU for creative writing. A romance insues behind Quaid's back.

Does the movie end up bad or good? Depends on how you look at it. This movie deals with family, loss of self esteem, jobs loss and just plain struggling with who you are and what you know. How obsolete are we on any given day? And how much do we let our emtions run us?

I found Carter's character to be well played. He had hints of humanity while keeping up the facade of a strong businessman. Quaid was okay as a father but I think he over played it and was too dramatic. Johannson was sexy and strong like she was in Lost in Translation. She has a great presence on screen.

This movie gives you something to think about. Like who you really want to keep in good company. I think the title for this movie was a loser. I kept forgetting what it was. The storyline I remember. And although the movie's story is about struggle, it's good to know that we're not alone. It's totally relateable and relevant for today. Maybe a good chaser for this movie would be some vodka.

Worth the money rating: $$$ 1/2