Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

In Good Company Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 28, 2019

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.

Good luck telling Dad that, though: Carter and Alex's romance is eventually discovered, and Dan is rightfully furious. This marks another crossroads where In Good Company could have easily gone off the rails...but again it doesn't, and it even manages to tie up this potential disaster in a way that first-time viewers probably won't see coming. The end result is an entirely thoughtful and mature romantic comedy that surprises more than it ought to, carefully developing great characters that actually make you care about what happens to them. Director Paul Weitz. who also wrote the film, is perhaps better known for About a Boy and (ugh) Little Fockers, but will forever be chained to American Pie. In Good Company could easily replace those last two as a genuine career highlight. It was well-received by audiences and critics in 2004, but has still managed to get lost in the shuffle during the past 15 years.

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).

In Good Company Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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.

In Good Company Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

In Good Company Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

As mentioned earlier, this MOD Blu-ray ports all of the extras from Universal's earlier DVD and HD DVD editions.

• Audio Commentary with writer-director Paul Weitz and actor Topher Grace - This is a candid, relaxed and enjoyable track that covers a lot of ground including development, casting, stories from the set, shout-outs and cameos, back-patting, and a lot more. As expected, their friendship and obvious camaraderie makes this a more accessibly commentary than most, so even casual fans will probably enjoy themselves.

• "Synergy" (7 clips, 23:25 total) - This multi-part piece is made up of short, lightweight segments titled "Stars" (3:00), "Youth" (2:37), "Getting Older" (2:18), "Real Life" (4:01), "New York Locations" (4:04), "Editing" (3:13), and "Story" (4:12), all of which feature key members of the cast and crew. There's overlap with the commentary and not much aside from your average EPK-grade material, but it's at least worth a once-over.

• Deleted Scenes (10 clips, 16 minutes total) - These ten scenes, which include optional commentary from writer-director Paul Weitz, were trimmed from the original ~3 hour cut of In Good Company. They're enjoyable enough in their own right, and Weitz does a fine job of breaking down why they didn't make the final film.

In Good Company Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.