6.8 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Dan Foreman is headed for a shakeup. He is demoted from head of ad sales for a major magazine when the company he works for is acquired in a corporate takeover. His new boss, Carter Duryea, is half his age--a business school prodigy who preaches corporate synergy. While Dan develops clients through handshake deals and relationships, Carter cross-promotes the magazine with the cell phone division and Krispity Krunch, an indeterminate snack food under the same corporate umbrella. Both men are going through turmoil at home. Dan has two daughters, Alex, age 18, and Jana, age 16, and is shocked when his wife tells him she's pregnant with a new child. Carter, in the meanwhile, is dumped by his wife of seven months just as he gets his promotion. Dan and Carter's uneasy friendship is thrown into jeopardy when Carter falls for, and begins an affair with, Dan's daughter Alex.
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, Scarlett Johansson, Marg Helgenberger, David PaymerRomance | 100% |
Comedy | 91% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Despite its potentially awful rom-com premise, Paul Weitz' In Good Company (2004) is a refreshingly realistic and enjoyable production that's held up nicely during the past decade and a half. Our story follows 51 year-old NYC ad executive Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid), who currently serves as head of sales for a leading sports magazine recently acquired by the Globecom corporation. As part of the massive buyout, 26 year-old hotshot executive Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) is given his job and Dan is demoted -- but at least he isn't fired outright, like a few of his colleagues. These sweeping changes don't sit well with Dan for obvious reasons, but he's even more stressed because of two other recent events: wife Ann (Marg Helgenberger) is unexpectedly pregnant, and oldest daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson) has plans to go to NYU and live in the city. To put it mildly, one week has changed everything.
That's not even the real kicker, though. Carter quickly becomes attracted to Alex -- in fact, their first meeting takes place in an elevator before he meets her dad -- but doesn't act on it until his wife Kimberly (Selma Blair) packs her bags and drives off after just seven months of wedded indifference. It's a story element that, if not treated with extreme care, could have easily doomed In Good Company before it built any real momentum. Carter is vulnerable after being knocked down a few pegs at almost every turn, and feels like a much more sympathetic character because of this. Meanwhile, Alex establishes a clearly dominant presence despite being almost ten years younger. Together, and largely due to these unusual (but not unrealistic) circumstances, they actually seem like a decent match.
As that original release year implies, In Good Company
was one of those new-ish films that just missed the
boat for a high-definition
release when it first arrived on DVD back in May 2005.
Instead, it earned an HD DVD release two years later --
remember, Universal chose
that side in the battle -- and, aside from an international
Blu-ray edition in 2011 (which I don't own for comparison,
unfortunately), In
Good Company hasn't been heard from since. Universal's
new manufactured-on-demand Blu-ray hopes to improve that
situation
somewhat...and luckily, unlike most catalog titles in the
studio's recent wave of MOD discs, it actually ports over all the
extras from those
earlier editions. That's great news for fans, even if this Blu-ray
still isn't a winner in every department (especially the recycled
cover art).
It's pretty clear that, like most other recent Universal MOD Blu- rays, In Good Company has been saddled with whatever source material was used the last time around. Since the movie's only about 15 years old, things can't be too bad, right? Well, no and yes. This 1080p transfer, though framed at the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and obviously a clean, stable presentation, suffers from a processed appearance that has plagued Universal catalog titles more often than not. What we have here is a decent source image obviously scrubbed with DNR (digital noise reduction) and artificially sharpened by edge enhancement to "compensate" for the mistake; as a result, many faces and places have been robbed of the texture and grain that makes a film look like...well, film. Things aren't all bad, though: In Good Company's natural color palette is pleasing and well-saturated with solid black levels, shadow detail, very little dirt and debris, and no obvious compression issues. This is a dual-layered (50 GB) disc with plenty of room to breathe...so if the transfer doesn't look all that great to your eyes, at least it's the best version of "not great" currently available.
Not too much to report here, as the default DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track does a decent enough job with the front-driven source material. Due to the film's everyday locales, there isn't much sonic excitement to be gleaned from its urban setting other than subtle background ambiance and overlapping conversations. Dialogue is, for the most part, crisp and clear with no obvious sync issues, but it sounds mixed about three or four dB lower than my normal listening level. The music by Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice and frequent Weitz collaborator Stephen Trask (most famous for the original stage production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch) is served well and usually represents most of the very limited surround activity. Overall, it's a solid enough track for the genre and, if nothing else, In Good Company is finally given a lossless presentation -- Universal's HD DVD was limited to Dolby Digital 5.1.
Optional subtitles, accessible via the subtitle button or pop-up menu button on your remote, are available in English SDH and placed within the image frame.
As mentioned earlier, this MOD Blu-ray ports all of the extras from Universal's earlier DVD and HD DVD editions.
Fifteen years after its theatrical release, In Good Company is still the type of film that has the ability to surprise first-time viewers. It rarely takes the easy way out, treating its characters and audience with respect by delivering a mature, layered story that greatly exceeds its potentially awful premise. The key actors are a big part of its success: Topher Grace is an obvious standout with his confident but extremely vulnerable performance, while the dependably good Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson aren't very far behind. Overall, this is the kind of solid romantic comedy that's easy to sit down and watch every so often, even though it's gotten lost in the shuffle among the cast and director's more well-known films. Universal's MOD Blu-ray of In Good Company is an easy step above the earlier DVD and HD DVD editions with its lossless audio and ported-over extras, but it's not a head-and-shoulders improvement: the 1080p transfer suffers from many (but not all) of the same problems evident on those lesser formats. Still, this is an easy recommendation for established fans, and newcomers should definitely give it a shot as well.
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