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Directed by: Paul Weitz Starring: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson Here's a nice surprise for the usually horrible period between Christmas and May. In Good Company is the story of a truly normal, loving father who is good at what he does. He is an advertising man, but a family man first. He does not wear a flashy suit, nor does he conduct power lunches with his clients. When faced with the prospect of entertaining a long time client by buying him a ticket to see the Knicks, the company wants him to use their deluxe corporate box far away from the common fanfare and environment of a professional sports event. Dennis Quaid plays Dan Foreman, a 51 year old advertising executive who is completely taken aback when a large corporation headed by an almost mythical media figure named Teddy K played by Malcolm McDowell (in an uncredited role) buys his relatively mid-level publishing house. The first act of business is becoming second fiddle to a hot-shot young salesman named Carter Duryea played by Topher Grace. This 26 year-old knows more about marketing cellphones to 5 year olds than selling space in an established sports magazine. Topher Grace is a welcome addition to the cast, though sometimes he plays his character in an almost pedantic quirky way. There are moments where he is given the opportunity to shine with real emotional weight, like when his wife of 2 years leaves him. Dennis Quaid may be a relative dinosaur in the advertising world, but he cares about what he does and his clients. To him, being inundated with speeches about "corporate synergy" by Duryea sounds like a speech from Ambassador Q'rplef from Arcturus 7. His one relief from this new invasion into his world is his family. His wife, played by Marg Helgenberger from CSI is recently pregnant, and his talented but aimless daughter played by Scarlett Johansson catches the eye of Carter when he invites himself over to dinner at Dan's house. To me, this was a veritable delight of honest American values when so many are concerned with status seeking climbing of the corporate ladder, sacrificing their morals and basic human decency. Quaid is a terrific foil to Grace's young, slick executive type. It's quite rare nowadays to see a family that while, has it's problems, is truly loving and finds a comfortable spot in the American background. The directing may by the numbers, but after the deluge of showy direction in films like The Aviator or The Life Aquatic, it's nice to see a film where the director let's the warm emotion and cleverness of the script be the main show. Weitz was best known for directing American Pie, but allows his touch to be almost insignificant. It's a warm, funny film for these cold winter months. It teaches us all that even though you can climb up the corporate ladder before you reach 30, it is all for naught if you are wanted or loved or cared for by no one. This film is a warm piece of cinematic cotton candy. RATING: 3.5 PROS: Dennis Quaid gives one of the best performances of his career, a warm glowy comedy-drama that nearly becomes a great film. You will probably get rear end if you take a girl on a date to this movie. CONS: Great first two acts is almost ruined by a cookie-cutter third act. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385267...fc=1;ft=10;fm=1 MaoistBanker fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Jan 16, 2005 |
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Jan 14, 2005 05:37
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 21:41 |
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I really enjoyed this movie, which is odd for my usual distaste of Dennis Quaid. He always seems so shaky and on edge. But he actually is very well casted for this part because he does seem like the great dad who is wise in his years. Tophur, again, is great in his role, as a shaky young business man on the way up. He has managed to pull off serious moments well, which is great. The movie does have it's cookiecutter moments, but manages to not end up being a cookie cutter romance story in the end. 4.0/5
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Jan 14, 2005 22:17
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Great romantic comedy, even if it is that in the loosest sense of the word. I was getting lots of "About a Boy" vibes while watching it, and oddly enough, only later did I learn that both are directed by the same guy! This was the first Scarlett Johansson movie I've seen, but I must say that she has an intangible attraction. Topher was surprisingly good, and if the you haven't believed any of the other reviews about Quaid, he really did have an amazing performance. I heard a lot of people leaving the theater who were disappointed with the ending, but I thought it was an excellent departure from the norm. This is a great "date" movie, as I think anyone can enjoy it. "It" being Dennis Quaid's turtle soup... complete shocker and utterly hilarious. 4.0 if it nets you some booty. 3.5 if not. Smeef fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Jan 15, 2005 |
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Jan 15, 2005 06:09
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The first review basically has it down. This is a terrific date movie, and also fun light watching. Some of the chicks in my theater weren't too happy because there's a lot of "business drama" inbetween the "romantic comedy." It's sort of part of a "new breed" of "guy flick" I guess, because it doesn't follow normal chick flick conventions. All in all a fun movie, with Dennis Quaid giving a really enjoyable performance. Topher Grace is also funny, and Scarlett Johansson is just plain hot (and also a good actress). 3.5-4.0
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Jan 16, 2005 04:16
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I enjoyed watching this movie a ton tonight, my only complaint was the ending seem to come really fast. 4.5/5 Quaids face seemed to get redder as the movie went on
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Jan 16, 2005 06:23
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It meandered a bit in its intentions, and I found the ending to be quite poor. However it was very enjoyable, and featured some very decent characterizations by Grace and Quaid. I really liked its semi-subtle jabs at corporate America and their business policies. Definitely worth seeing unless you hate this sort of movie. 3.5.
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Jan 16, 2005 22:05
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I saw this movie for one reason only: Scarlett Johansson. I have a shrine erected (heh, I said erect) to her in my apartment complete with voodoo stuffs. The theater I saw this in was probably the worst one possible. It was crowded, I had some premi teens next to me who kept blabbing, some fat chicks on my other side who wouldn't stop giggling, and a Hispanic lady brought her shreiking baby in and she wouldn't leave the theater. I mean whenever a dramatic moment started I think she would drop the baby on its head to get it going. If you see a mass homocide in the coming year where some nutcase starts gunning people down in a theater, don't be surprised when I stop posting. Okay, but back to Scarlett. They put too much make-up on her. And she never looks good in that red red lipstick. She's a pink gal. And it was funny having so many chicks in the audience because they pick up on different stuff. When she stood up in one scene and had on a MINI skirt, they all started clucking and chattering. And she was really forward sexually in one scene and they were doing the same thing. And she's gotta be about 4'3" tall. Watch her walking on the street compared to everyone else. What's funny is there is a medium shot of her walking with Dennis and she's like half his size, and then they have a close-up together and she's just barely shorter. So she was standing on a box. Stuff like that makes me laugh. Oh yeah, the movie. Um, it was okay. I found it to be a relatively honest portrayal of modern corporate life. Sometimes the mode of the movie switched. Is it suppposed to be realistic or parody? Like the scene where Teddy K is bottom-lit was a bit over the top. And Dennis' speech there was really out of left field and was one of those lame Hollywood moments where everyone starts nodding in agreement at the true meaning of Christmas. There's not really much about this movie I'll remember in a month. Except how Scarlett and I were meant to be together despite her incredible fame and fortune and being as tall as my waist and me being 70 years older and a hell of a lot uglier. But I look better in red red lipstick. Topher was okay. Dennis was okay. Scarlett can do much much better. Watch Girl Wit Da Pearl Earring or Lost in da Translocation. 3 -30 for theater quality
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Jan 17, 2005 18:16
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| # ? Apr 23, 2024 21:41 |
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I want my two hours back. loving hell. I just couldn't give a poo poo about any of the things that happened in this movie. The 'romantic relationship' seemed implausible, random, shallow, and pathetic. The business side of things bored me to tears. And because it was a movie about a marketing business, it was full of marketing buzzwords and catchphrases that drive me loving insane. Ahhhhh.... gently caress this stupid movie. 1/5
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Jan 23, 2005 04:04
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