Dan Foreman is 51, with two teenage daughters (one, Alex, is on her way to NYU, which necessitates a second mortgage), a good marriage (his wife is pregnant — to their surprise), and a good job in ad sales for Sports America magazine. When the parent company is sold out, Dan suddenly has a new boss, 26-year-old Carter Duryea, who has no experience in ad sales whatsoever. The buy-out results in many of Dan’s co-workers getting fired, including Morty, his close associate for many years.

Carter’s life is in turmoil, His new position gives him a huge salary, but his wife of seven months is divorcing him. He buys a new Porche, but gets in an accident on the way out of the dealer’s lot. He’s lonely and without purpose. He weedles an invitation to Dan’s house for supper and meets Alex. They find it easy to talk, and when they meet again in NY by accident, they hit it off. Alex aggressively invites him to her dorm room and seduces him. They see each other regularly without Dan’s knowledge. When Dan finds out, he follows them to a restaurant where he punches Carter in the face. Alex breaks up with Carter.

Meanwhile, business isn’t good at Sports America. The new policies aren’t paying off. When the owner of the new conglomerate shows up to give a pep talk, Dan speaks out and asks him a bunch of questions that don’t have answers. The owner walks out, and his headhunter fires Dan. But Carter, by this time has grown to admire Dan and envy his dedication and his normal family life. He makes a stand — if Dan is fired, so is he. They claim to have a big deal in the wings that they’ll take to another company. The headhunter gives them 24 hours to seal it, or both be fired. They manage — by doing it Dan’s old-fashioned way. When they get back to the company, they discover it’s been sold again. Carter is out and Dan is back in his old job. He rehired Morty, then offers Carter a job as his second-in-command. Carter thanks him sincerely but turns it down. He says he wants to find something that means as much to him as Dan’s job means to Dan. Dan’s wife has a baby — another girl. Alex stays at NYU. Carter goes off to find himself.

The movie was entertaining and the characters were likeable. Dan’s morals and dedication to his family were admirable (although there was no hint of faith). Carter started out as a typical corporate yes-man and actually grew into a solid, likeable character by movie’s end. Alex is the one who really bothered me. The scene where she seduces Carter angered me a great deal (while at the same time, I realized Carter was equally guilty for going along with it), especially since she didn’t have any remorse apart from not “being honest” with her father. Her breakup with Carter didn’t make any more sense than her seduction of him. The ending wasn’t predictable.