Friday Night Videos, pt. 1

Last Friday, the Mrs. and I did something we hadn't done in at least a year, and really haven't done regularly in two years...we did rented movies. We used to do this multiple times a week...now, practically never.

I so need a new life.

Oh, anyway, the first movie we watched was In Good Company. This film got some great reviews in Newsweek (prompting no riots) and World, but pretty much no attention in the box office. It was a surprisingly charming film--at moments it was pretty much cliché romantic comedy type stuff, but it didn't ever fall into that rut 100%.

As for the acting...I was very pleased. Dennis Quaid was very restrained as the loving father/dedicated employee/old-school salesman who believes in his product. Quaid's been a personal favorite since his days as Gordo Cooper in The Right Stuff (I was even able to forgive him for Inner Space), and it was very nice to like him again in a role. Topher Grace did a great, great job. Showed me that he can handle stuff beyond sit-coms (which I love him in)--I expected he could, but was glad to see I was right. I'd never seen Scarlett Johansson in anything before, but now I want to (and for purely platonic reasons). I'd apparently seen Clark Gregg before (AI, State and Main, Clear and Present Danger, Usual Suspects) but I only remember him as Mr. Quo Vadimus in Sports Night. He played pretty much the same character in this movie, only without a heart. David Paymer was excellent as usual, wish he got bigger roles--tho' I think he does better in the small stuff.

Like I said the story was border-line cliché: Old School Business vs. New Order of Profit at all Costs; Forbidden Love; Old Dog vs. Young Pup; and a few others. But they were meshed together so well you don't care. A few genuine laughs, a couple of great scenes, a couple things they could've given you more of/resolved better. All in all a nice movie, and those are too few and far between. Nothing I would make an effort to see again, but if given the opportunity to, I wouldn't mind a bit.