Slowly Going Bald

Starring Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson

Written and directed by Paul Weitz

3.5 stars (out of 4)

The brothers Weitz have never contented themselves with offering up stereotypes when real people seem much more interesting. In American Pie (1999), their first foray into (co-)directing, the four young men at the plot’s center behave in unique (if poorly acted) ways: prom is only mentioned to be denounced, a far cry from John Hughes and Molly Ringwald. And let’s not forget the actual pie. The story followed new conventions, obeying the spirit and toying with the letter of the laws of Generation Y comedies, masking a love for rules in an ironic (at least it thinks so) self-detachment. Paul and Chris Weitz took this desire to observe conventions while standing them on their heads to much more enjoyable (thanks to the source material) heights in About A Boy (2002), in which Hugh Grant played the most believable version of himself yet committed to film.

In Good Company (originally titled Synergy) is being billed alternately as a fish-out-of-water story about a young boss and older subordinate and as a romantic comedy between that young boss and his subordinate’s daughter, and although those are two aspects of the film, to distill it like that robs it of the truth, humor and depth that director Paul Weitz brings to his original screenplay.

Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) gets a promotion and a divorce at the same time, a lot to handle for a 26-year-old. His new job puts him in charge of ad sales at a major sports magazine, where his No. 2 is former department head Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid), 51-year-old father of two with a third on the way. Nervous about bungling the job because of his inexperience, Carter blurts out his fears to a girl on the elevator, who turns out to be Alex (Scarlett Johansson), SUNY freshman and Dan’s daughter. Carter doesn’t learn this until he invites himself over to Dan’s for dinner one night and meets his family, an event that begins his friendship and subsequent romantic relationship with Alex. Carter’s divorce has left him reeling more than even he can realize, and he latches on to Dan and, more strongly, to Alex. He’s on the rebound but doesn’t know it, and needs Alex to point it out to him.

The focus here is on the changing relationships between members of the triangle at the heart of the story, but In Good Company juggles several plotlines with more success than I anticipated: Dan and his wife preparing for a new child, Carter and Dan’s relationship, Carter and Alex’s relationship, Carter’s maturation, Carter and Dan’s job safety in the face of changing office politics, etc. Unfortunately Dan’s wife, Ann (Marg Helgenberger), gets short shrift, and his other daughter is barely noticeable. As if that weren’t enough, memorable character actors like David Paymer are given so little to do I wondered if maybe Paymer had a day off and decided to wander through the set, ad libbing as he went.

The film tries to be more than a typical romantic or workplace comedy, and mostly succeeds, thanks in large part to Quaid’s steady confidence as a man barely keeping it together. Quaid’s career has received some uplift since Traffic (2000) and The Rookie (2002), and here he hits his stride as one of the few men in Hollywood not afraid to play his own age. His self-assured leadership stands in stark contrast to Carter’s go-get-’em jargon-laden pep; Carter wants to take a client to a Jay-Z concert, while Dan would rather settle a deal with a beer and a handshake.

All of Topher Grace’s film appearances have been designed to put himself a little further beyond That ’70s Show, but cameos for Soderbergh and pony shows for preteens weren’t getting the job done. This is his first comedic lead role, and he carries it well, his performance bolstered by the possibility of good works yet to come. Carter isn’t Gordon Gecko; it’s that his success outweighs his age and his mind is trying to reconcile the two. We get the feeling his nose has always been in a book, and he missed the day at school that taught everybody how to interact socially (I know a few others with the same problem). Carter longs for Alex because he knows he should: he doesn’t know what it is to not long for somebody or something. His confession of love is a plea, and Weitz does us the favor of playing it that way.

Yes, there’s a three-way confrontation scene, but it doesn’t pan out the way you’d expect. Ditto the last-ditch effort by Dan and Carter to impress their schmuck of a boss, Steckle (Clark Gregg). But just as in Weitz’s earlier films, it’s the (mildly) unexpected turns that keep us interested and make what could have been a boring exercise in genre into an enjoyable, heartfelt comedy.

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