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 Hey
there, fellow movie lovers, remember the 80’s? No, I’m not trying
to revive that lame Goat Boy skit from "Saturday Night Live,"
I’m serious.
The reason
I ask is because I grew up in the 80’s, and I remember lots of
things. Specifically, I remember coming home from school when
I heard about the assassination attempt on the recently-elected
President Reagan. I remember being at my Aunt’s house in New Jersey,
watching MTV for the very first time and being enthralled by that
exciting new form called "the music video." Vividly
remember passing time in a Social Studies class, when the department
head burst into the room to announce that the Space Shuttle Challenger
had just exploded.
But some of my happiest
memories came every Thursday night at 8:30, when a soon-to-be
80’s staple called "Family Ties" aired on NBC. The concept
of former-hippie parents from the 60’s raising a nuclear family
in the conservative 80’s provided plenty of laughs. But since
I was also up to my neck in the throes of adolescence, I’d be
lying if I didn’t admit that I had the hots for Justine Bateman,
who played the older, dim-witted sister, Mallory Keaton.
Mostly though, I remember
having a blast watching the antics of uptight, super-Republican
Alex P. Keaton, famously portrayed by Michael J. Fox, who clashed
with his family over business, ethics, and…well, just about everything.
Almost as soon as the show premiered in 1982, it was obvious that
Fox was the breakout star, and it was only a matter of time before
he conquered the big screen as well with 1985’s "Back to
the Future." But between "Family Ties" and his
other signature role, in 1987’s big business comedy "The
Secret of My Success," Fox was the perfect embodiment of
the young, ambitious Wall Street yuppie.
Now, I know you’re
probably thinking, "Where the hell is he going with this,"
right? Well, I’m glad you asked…
There I was,
sitting in the darkened theater with my fingers scraping the bottom
of the butter-filled popcorn barrel, totally immersed in the funny,
moving and entertaining "In Good Company." In the film,
Dennis Quaid plays Dan Foreman, a 51-year-old ad exec at a popular
New York-based sports magazine, where he’s been cutting his teeth
for more than 20 years. He has a beautiful family and a nice big
house in the suburbs, but everything changes when his magazine
is sold to a big media conglomerate, and he is demoted to answering
to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a new boss who is half his age.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, complications further ensue when
Carter starts dating Dan’s oldest daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson).
How ironic
that his daughter’s name is Alex – the same name (well, sort of)
as Michael J. Fox’s character from "Family Ties." Because
that’s when it hit me that if "In Good Company" had
been made around 15 or 20 years ago, the man who once played Alex
P. Keaton would have been perfect as the power-hungry, but in-over-his-head
Carter. It’s hard not to think of Fox in the role after he displayed
so many of the same comedic and sensitive qualities during the
best of his 80’s output, not to mention during his run on "Spin
City" in the 90’s.
Alas, it
was not to be, but at least the character fell to the very capable
26-year-old Topher Grace. As fate would have it, Grace is also
a breakout star from a hit TV series – in this case, "That
70’s Show." Given Grace’s choice in movie roles – like 2000’s
"Traffic," this year’s well-acted indie staple "P.S.,"
and spot-on cameos in "Ocean’s
Eleven" and "Ocean’s Twelve"
– it’s quite obvious that he has his sights on other things than
becoming a tabloid magnet (like his "70’s Show" co-stars
Ashton Kutcher and Wilmer Valderamma).
Grace shines
alongside Dennis Quaid, who is also well cast as the charming
salesman/family man whose life is thrown into a tailspin. Grace
could easily have gone over the top and laid it on pretty thick,
but he displays a lot of range with a character who clearly has
no idea what he is doing (alas, his only previous sales experience
involved a marketing tie-in with kiddie cell phones). He may have
the keys to the house as far as his professional life is concerned,
but because his personal life is a mess, he soon latches onto
Quaid by inviting himself over for dinner, where he hooks up with
Scarlett Johansson.
This is where
the film loses its footing, as their initial attraction and budding
romance feels too contrived to be effective. That’s too bad, since
the situation understandably adds a due amount of tension to an
already complex dynamic, but one still can’t help but get the
impression that it wasn’t entirely necessary. Not helping matters
is the fact that the usually talented Johansson, who shined in
last year’s "Lost in Translation" and "Girl
with a Pearl Earring," seems to be walking through her
role.
As co-produced,
written and directed by Paul Weitz, who scored solidly two years
ago as co-director and co-writer (with brother Chris Weitz) of
"About a Boy," the film would have been much stronger
and tighter if it just focused on the psychological impact of
feeling professionally obsolete. As it is, "In Good Company"
is entertaining, but it loses its bite and seems to drag on much
longer than it should in an effort to wrap everything up. And
as timely as it may be in this era of media takeovers, it still
feels like it would have been much more at home in the go-go 80’s,
when Michael J. Fox would have been perfect for the film.
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