message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

                   
In Good Company  Rated PG-13
Directed by Paul Weitz.  Starring Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace

Photo © Universal Pictures
The trailers for In Good Company promise audiences a feel-good romantic comedy about an older man having to work under a supervisor half his age. And the previews are about halfway right. In Good Company also tells the all-too-common story of how big corporations merge smaller companies together for the benefit of shareholders, only to fire faithful middle aged employees whose wisdom and loyalty are no longer considered essential.  Dan Foreman (Quaid) is the head of advertising sales for Sports America magazine and has developed a hard-working and loyal crew.  When the magazine is sold to a media conglomerate, Carter Duryea (Grace) is brought in to take over Dan’s job and begin to make personnel cuts.  Carter knows absolutely nothing about the business and needs Dan’s wisdom; Dan’s wife is expecting a child and his daughter is in college, so he needs Carter to help save his job.  When Dan’s daughter Alex starts dating Carter, things only get worse.  In Good Company is honest about the pain that is a part of company restructuring; I found it very hard to find much to laugh about.  But the characters are people that I cared about, even when the plot developments seemed fairly arbitrary. In Good Company reminds us that the person who works in the next cubicle from us is someone with a family and a life that matters, and perhaps we should learn to handle human resources with more care.  Good message.  Good movie.

Pitchfork Rating: Three halos. (A film that honors integrity and values in the midst of a business culture in need of rediscovering such things.)  One pitchfork. (Pervasive mild swearing, a discreet scene of off-screen hanky panky.)

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