RETROSPECT: "In Good Company" (2005)

WRITER'S NOTE: The following was originally posted on my Facebook page on December 27, 2024. 

In 2005, writer-producer-director Paul Weitz made a film called In Good Company, a comedy-drama about a sports magazine salesman (played by Dennis Quaid) who is suddenly downsized from his management position and gets a new boss—an ambitious young hotshot (played by Topher Grace)—half his age. Things get complicated when the 51-year-old businessman and family man’s wife is expecting another child, and especially when his 26-year-old supervisor eventually falls for his oldest, college-aged daughter (played by Scarlett Johansson). Talk about a clash of old versus new. 

This film was released just before I graduated high school, during a time when I was much younger than I am now, and before I really understood how the world works, how other people think, and how businesses operate. It’s cliche to say, I know, but there were so many other places and things I had yet to experience, for better and for worse. In retrospect, I identify much more with this film’s themes of “success,” ethics, and a sense of growing up fast (“Are you even qualified for this job,” one character asks Grace’s Carter Duryea) yet not being certain about what I really wanted to do. (Believe me, I wrestled with that for years in college, and in the years since.) 

Years later, in the mid-2010s, I worked in sales and marketing myself, so I understand the world of business—at least, a fraction of it—as portrayed in this film, even though the movie exaggerates this aspect a bit. The same goes for learning how hard it is to work on commission (which is another story). The job ultimately didn’t work out for me. But I learned so much from it, and I still carry the skills I gained from it with me today. Not to mention the people I still have connections with. 

In any position, it truly works if you have genuine grit and determination, but most of all if you truly believe in what you do. I can’t help but think of speaker Simon Sinek’s concept of “the Golden Circle” and “understanding your why.” In other words, not just thinking about what people and companies and businesses do and how they do it, but ultimately why they do what they do. Quaid’s Dan Foreman in In Good Company is a living embodiment of that. In spite of his character’s angst and frustration over company layoffs and downsizing (and the aforementioned circumstances related to his family), Dan’s integrity and ethics shine through in his professional and personal relationships. 

The self-described “anal-retentive” Carter, meanwhile, thinks he wants this new management position, which he may or may not be prepared for. But does he really? His arc reveals that, while he has ambition, he doesn’t have the passion for it. As he later confesses, “I know that I wanted to mean something the way this means to you.” 

Dan’s daughter Alex is in a similar position, starting as a college freshman, wanting to pursue creative writing (hmm, reminds me of someone I know), yet still learning about what she wants to pursue. 

There are those in business and in life who act out of pride and/or ego. There are those in it for the entitlement and for status. And there are those who genuinely build relationships, professionally and personally, and who aren’t afraid to ask questions (the tough questions), and who are fully aware of the various personal and emotional sacrifices involved. 

Either way, I think another message with this film (and in general) is that everything doesn’t work out the way we want it to. Not always. On the other hand, that’s not always a bad thing. There are always lessons there, for better and for worse. The same goes for the company that we keep, or rather, choose to keep. Just be sure they are the people that can break you down and build you up for the right reasons. 

To those of you who have done that for me and still do, thank you. 

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