Image copyright © by Marcus Trahan

In Good Company

(2004)

You know this is going to be fairly standard stuff from the start, but I like Dennis Quaid and love Scarlett Johannson, so we took a look. And for the first two acts it was damn good, transcending the material because of smart writing and top-notch acting. A loathsome young yuppie played very well by Topher Grace (Topher?) is promoted way beyond his capabilities over a man twice his age. But he has the grace (Grace?) to realize he is a loathsome yuppie, and wants better for himself. The digs at corporate sociopathy are very good at first. (Were corporations always this heartless and stupid, or is it recent development?) Then the whole thing collapses at the end in an attempt to make everybody feel good. Every cliché in the book is dragged in except boy-gets-girl. It just sort of lies there and dies.