“In Good Company” marks a welcome break from the dime-a-dozen romantic comedies that typically show up this time of year.

The movie sets a good pace with its romantic and comedic elements, but the film’s real power lies in the poignant depiction of the American corporate structure. In an age of rising globalization, downsizes and company mergers, “In Good Company” is extremely relevant.

The film follows two contrasting protagonists. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a crusty middle-aged business man coping with a widening communication gap with his college-aged daughter Alex (Scarlett Johansson). Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) is an ambitious corporate upstart with a budding career and a steadily declining personal life. Eventually, the two men cross paths when a media giant purchases Foreman’s company and sets up Duryea as his boss. To make matters more awkward, Alex becomes Duryea’s confidant and the two soon share a secret romance.

Admittedly, the premise isn’t extremely original. The well-rounded approach to Foreman and Duryea’s personality is the movie’s saving grace. If either men were the antagonist, the movie would come off as preachy and condescending.

Instead, Dan Foreman is seen as the perfect boss who is secretly unable to accept changes in his daughter’s personal life. Duryea’s inexperience is seen the moment he utters soundbyte speeches, but his inconfidence allows him more development. Despite these well-rounded characters, the movie is somewhat idealistic at times. With the exception of Malcolm McDowell’s underused media giant Teddy K., the film’s villains are overzealous and uninspired stereotypes.

When Duryea and Foreman take on their corporate adversaries in a company-sponsored basketball game, the bad guys are immediately identifiable with their black clothing and bad attitudes. Still, Teddy K’s vision of a “capitalistic democracy” is quite realistic, sounding exactly like something we’d expect to hear from a real life media mogul, and leads to Dan Foreman’s scathing criticism of the corporation’s policy at the film’s climax.

Corporate synergy and a company’s responsibility to its consumers are the major elements of Teddy K’s speech and Foreman’s rebuttal.

Ultimately, Foreman, Duryea and even the cookie cutter villains are powerless in the face of the movers and shakers of the corporate world. This acknowledgement serves to legitimize a lot of the film’s conclusions.

“In Good Company” has some good laughs, but the film’s underlying message is about the American dream in a global market.