In Good Company

I remember a year or so ago reading someone suggesting that Topher Grace, moving on from The ’70s Show, might have the makings of a new Cary Grant. This is 2005 and standards, not to mention people’s motivations for making such a claim, have changed but I can kind of see it. Dennis Quaid, on the other hand, is a known commodity and generally able to rise to a good script. They get a chance to see if Paul Weitz’s script and direction can spark chemistry and maybe give some heft to the Grace/Grant comparison.

In Good Company does deliver and shows that the promise of Weitz’s previous film, the terrific About a Boy, will likely be fulfilled. I really enjoyed this movie about a dotcom boy genius (Grace) who collides with an old school, happy middle class ad sales manager (Quaid) when a Rupert Murdoch-like tycoon (madman Malcolm McDowell) swoops in to buy Quaid’s Sports Illustrated-like magazine. Also adding to the sauce are very sweet Scarlett Johansson as Quaid’s oldest daughter (and Grace’s barely age-appropriate love interest) and, adding to the pressure, wife Marg Helgenberger is pregnant again.

definitely recommended