Writer-director Paul Weitz, who sliced a different kind of comedy from baked goods in "American Pie," delivers an amusing and unusually compassionate look at today's corporate culture with"In Good Company."

This low-key comedy is also a chance for Dennis Quaid to continue the climb into midlife respectability that began two years ago with "Far From Heaven."

Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) is a twentysomething hotshot who displaces seasoned Dan Foreman (Quaid) in ad sales at a big sports magazine. Further rubbing salt in the wound is Carter's secret dalliance with Dan's nubile daughter (a very grounded Scarlett Johansson).

The "ick" factor of the Oedipal subplot is quickly brokered into something organic, even touching. In this story of out with the old, in with the new, we feel for both characters: the over-mortgaged guy tobogganing on the downsizing slope, and the slick newbie with much to prove and little to draw on.

Carter would seem to have the edge. He hits the ground running with the backing of the magazine's new parent company, headed by a globalization guru (Malcolm McDowell). He's full up on the latest buzzwords, like "synergy."But he needs Dan's old-school knowledge more than he needs what he's already taken - Dan's job, corner office and daughter.Dan obliges with the charm of a hostile witness. But Carter is all over him like sunburn, even inviting himself over for dinner to get a taste of the home life he's always lacked.Quaid's performance is amazingly good in a movie that won't set the world on fire. In a parallel to the story, Grace (from TV's "That '70s Show") gradually pulls his character up from what could have been a cliche."In Good Company" - the unfortunate title is an unnecessary pun - mostly goes for comedy, sometimes pitched a little high. But the characters are what keep us there, plus the movie's commendable maturity in its evenhanded depiction of Darwinism in the workplace.