Director Paul Weitz's Best Screenplay; Topher Grace's Break-Out in Film (his first and best film performance to date); Scarlett Johansson continued her rapid ascent in film at only age 19, and Dennis Quad hits a home run in one of his most endearing and connected performances.

Ignore the trailer that fails to capture the subtle moments in the film.

This is a nearly perfect "little film" with a great story that draws you in with believable charecters, and first rate performances by every actor.

'In Good Company' takes one through the balancing of middle-age fatherhood and career (Quad),with heart, humor, and a positive family-first theme (without resorting to cliches or the "Hollywood" treatment). Safe for 12+ year olds, and identifiable charecters and themes for adults.

Add in the perspective of a bright mid-twenties professional's (Topher Grace) search for happiness - meaningful career, love, a wife, starting a family, and a life-mentor/father-figure (Quad),while navigating the good, the bad, and the indifferent of corporate personalities, and interesct the two generations, and you have a film that engages one from beginning to end.

Soundtrack is wonderfully in sync with the emotions of the film.

Co-star Johansson is flawless in building upon her breakout 'Lost In Translation' and 'Pearl Earring' performances. This mid-2000 decade acting period was when she made her mark, rapidly ascending to stardom, and honing her acting skills in key roles when she was only 18 to 20 years old.

Johansson's character (Quad's daughter and Grace's love interest) is essential to drawing Quad/Grace towards their inevitable surrogate father/son relationship, and she does so perfectly, making every actor around her look good - why she didn't receive Best Performance In A Supporting Role nomination is perplexing, but probably due to her already highly-recognized performances over the previous 18 months - quite an impressive resume for a teenager.

A must-see film and one that is just as great the second and third time viewing it.

Dan (Dennis Quaid) is a 51 year old executive in a sports magazine who learns that his company has been bought by entrepreneur Teddy K. One of Teddy's disciple Steckle (Clark Gregg) is tapped to run the magazine. Young enthusiastic Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) is the new head of ad sales even though he doesn't have any experience with sports. There are layoffs and it's not a good time. His wife Ann (Marg Helgenberger) is pregnant and his daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson) is transferring into the more expensive NYU. Meanwhile Carter's wife Kimberly (Selma Blair) leaves him. The young Carter takes Dan as his wingman and Alex as his new girlfriend.

Both Quaid and Grace give good performances. Topher is channeling some yapping nervous puppy while Dennis is perfectly annoyed. They are more than simple one dimensional characters. They have heart. They have feelings. The story is simplistic at times. It wraps up in a Hollywood happy ending but it doesn't feel false. Like Steckle says, business can be so arbitrary. It's kind of a rom-com except it's between Quaid and Grace.

When a famous sports magazine is sold to a huge corporation, the twenty-six years old executive Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) is assigned to be the boss of the fifty-one years old sales executive Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid),making him very upset. When Dan's older daughter has an affair with Carter, his world upside down.

"In Good Company" is a surprisingly good movie, indeed a tale about the contemporary labor relationship, with corporations and their offspring –that sort of person that steps in others to be promoted, employees, unemployment and family. The plot mixes comedy, drama and romance, and due to the wide range of age of the well-constructed characters, the viewer will certainly identify himself or herself with one of them. There is the middle-aged executive, afraid with the possibility of losing his job, and the insecure young executive, afraid of his position and responsibilities; the pregnant mother and her concern with her family; the daughter that joined the university, with the family needing a second mortgage to pay for her education; the servile flatterer, the gossiper, therefore, many ordinary people and situations that each one of us may face in the office or in our personal live. The conclusion, with the romantic pair following independent paths, is unusual in a traditional romantic-comedy, but it was a plus for me. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Em Boa Companhia" ("In Good Company")