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| Employee of the Month (100%) |
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| Tommy Boy (67%) |
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Plot:
Doug and Richard, two assistant managers at a Chicago supermarket chain, battle for the same management position at a new store. Though the two seem to have nothing in common, their battle of wits an...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:November 3, 2008Normally, assistant manager at a grocery store is the kind of position you would have hoped to grow out of by your thirties but Doug (Seann William Scott) has settled into it. He's not exactly happy, but certainly would like to help provide his wife (Jenna Fischer), a nurse earning the bread-winner title, with the home in the Chicago suburbs they've always wanted. When its announced that a new branch of the store is opening in the city, Doug immediately adds his name for consideration to be head manager, an idea encouraged by his boss (Fred Armisen), who is hardly the poster of executive exuberance. A new employee has just been added to their location though. Richard (John C. Reilly) arrives from Canada with all the robotic, yet seemingly genuine, congeniality that customer service outlets crave and announces that he's in the running for the job as well. The Promotion finds its success more as a semi-serious examination of two characters with much to lose trying to get ahead.
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MCT:October 31, 2008NOT INTERESTED
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MCT:October 6, 2008
Richard Welhner: "We're all just out here trying to get some food... sometimes, we bump into each other."
A war of wills takes place between two men who want to run the same grocery store in this offbeat comedy from writer and director Steven Conrad. Doug (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago. When the owners of the market announce they're opening a new branch near Doug's neighborhood, he applies to become manager of the new store, and both he and his wife (Jenna Fischer) assume he's a shoo-in to get the job. But Richard (John C. Reilly), a gregarious recent hire at the store who has relocated to Illinois from Canada, announces he's also applying for the management position, and a keen rivalry develops between Doug and Richard even as they strive to act like friends on the surface. As the competition grows between the two, their personality flaws become increasingly evident -- Doug's short temper, Richard's history of drug abuse -- and when Richard's wife (Lili Taylor) leaves him, the contest starts taking an uncomfortable turn. The Promotion also stars Fred Armisen, Gil Bellows, and Bobby Cannavale.
Think of "Employee of the Month" but a thousand times better. "The Promotion" from the writer of "Pursuit of Happyness" and one of my favorite films of all time "The Weather Man", Steven Conrad makes his smashing directorial debut that delivers all the laughs and the no-holds barred satirical commentary on modern day corporate environment. This short, amazing little film managed to find its way out of the dregs of epic summer blockbusters out there and places itself at the top beside 1999's cult classic "Office Space" and 2005's sleeper hit "Waiting..."
The surprising chemistry between leads John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott worked really well. The guy who was immortalized as Stifler in the American Pie saga proved to us that his acting slate doesn't only consist of wise-ass, annoying turd of a character. Its safe to say that this guy is improving. I'll be seeing more of him in the future.
Will Ferrell's other half, John C. Reilly never ceases to impress. His acting skills is actually more suitable in films like these rather than some of the work he did with his pal Will Ferrell.
What makes this film work even more is that the jokes and the running gags were actually necessary to the story, it wasn't corny, it wasn't dragged and wasn't over the top. Unlike other comedies out there whose main objective is to create absurd, unfunny jokes. This one is just about right. The plot and character development worked seamlessly with the jokes and the dark humor.
4.5/5 -
MCT:September 1, 2008
"The Promotion" is a fairly formulaic but mostly enjoyable film by writer/director Steve Conrad, whose previous work includes "The Weather Man" and "The Pursuit of Happyness". With a cast involving talented actors like John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer, I had extraordinarily high expectations for this film. However, as much as I was entertained, I only really can feel let down. This is a wildly uneven comedy, and by the end it just felt a little bit too manufactured to cherish.
Doug (Seann William Scott) plays an employee at a Chicago supermarket (the second script written by writer/director Steve Conrad that takes place in the Windy City, along with "The Weather Man"). He has recently married Jen (Jenna Fischer) and they have a very loving marriage. The two of them hope to move out of their thin-walled apartment presumably only to get away from the homosexual nextdoor neighbor banjo-playing duo. When a new store starts construction, Doug finds it as a perfect opportunity, at 33-years-old, to finally move up in the world.
However, there's another man who desperately needs that job. Richard (John C. Reilly) recently emigrated to America from Canada with his Scottish wife, Laurie (Lili Taylor). At one time, Richard was a bit of a trouble maker and was invested heavily into drugs and was even part of a biker gang (however, it should be noted that he was quite the polite biker gang member). Richard pumps himself up by listening to a self-help tape that instructs him how to succeed within the workplace. I thought this was an interesting choice to counter the typical narration from Doug, although at the same time I didn't like becoming so distant from the character of Richard. Throughout the rest of the short runtime, the characters play mind games and try and one up each other for the job of manager of the new store.
It seems like Seann William Scott is trying to make some sort of a comeback this year and redeem his roles from films like "Dude, Where's My Car?" with more respectable roles in "Role Models" and "The Promotion". It's certainly a great help that in each film he's got a wonderful actor to work with (Paul Rudd and John C. Reilly), however I don't know if he ever really "clicked" in this role. He was meant to be a typical nice guy with traditional values and a positive attitude, but he came off looking like nothing more of a caricature. His narration was monotone, repetitive, and it didn't sound natural. It was like you were hearing the character reading off cue cards. I found the narration in this film to be a huge detriment to the flow of the plot, whereas I felt it was largely effective in "The Weather Man".
There are some really out of place and simply odd ideas thrown into this film. I can't say I was exactly offended because i'm certainly not accusing Steve Conrad of being racist - but the gang of African American hooligans hanging out in the parking lot, the Latino people playing tricks such as getting people to say "pussy" to an unsuspecting woman, and the nextdoor neighbor homosexual couple were certainly not the best choices. Equally questionable was the fact that we never saw Laurie or Jen outside of their house. While this film is largely about the stress of being a man and a husband - it almost came off as sexist and fairly old-fashioned. Doug's character literally seemed almost offended at the idea of his wife going back to school and trying to help support the family.
This movie never set out to be a dark comedy or a serious drama - we get a goofy and over-the-top corny narration, happy music, and random displays of gymnastics and tap dancing. However, I really wish that Steve Conrad would've tried to push the envelope a little further. Particularly by the end of the film, where Doug learns to respect his adversary and Richard steps aside in a calm defeat, I almost felt cheated. The rivalry was very interesting and I thought there were some very creative things Conrad did to enhance the feud, but by the end everything we'd witnessed was set aside for a fairly contrived and easy finale. While I was never bored and this did get a few laughs out of me, I certainly can't rank this up with the other comedies of 2008 like "Tropic Thunder" or even "Pineapple Express". That being said, however, i'm still confident that Steve Conrad will have a wonderful future ahead of him. -
MCT:June 22, 2008Richard: You see, in Canada, "cutting the cheese" means to cut the actual cheese.
From the writer of The Weather Man, Steve Conrad now writes and debuts as a director in a very enjoyable comedy working through a number of running gags, awkwardness, and solid performances.
Sean William Scott plays Doug, an assistant manager at a grocery store. He is good at what he does, is marries to a supportive wife played by Jenna Fisher, and is generally confident. He learns of a new store opening and hopes to become manager there, helping him to get a new house and just generally rise up in the world. Doug is considered a "shoo-in" by his boss, played by SNL's Fred Armisan, but things change.
A new assistant manager arrives and seems to be messing things up for Doug. He is Richard, played by John C. Reily. He is new from Canada, is married with a child and seems like a fairly good guy. He has had some problems in the past, but is trying to get by.
Doug and Richard seem to become rivals of sorts, as the two deal with looking good for the board as they attempt to get the job as manager.
Much like The Weather Man, this movie works due to how real the situations are. It can be awkward at times, but its effective and funny.
The devotion to characters is also important. Sean William Scott is good as a man being pushed from a calmer life style to building up inner turmoil over his dilemma. John C. Reilly is very good throughout playing this guy as real as possible. There are little things that make Reilly so good here, such as his subtle use of a Canadian accent and his little lines concerning life. It really works in the overall scheme of things.
The film works as a quirky character comedy, it drags a bit concerning is short running length, versus how long it can seem, but overall it is an entertaining movie.
Richard: You know Doug, we're all just trying to get some food. Sometimes we just bump into each other. -
MCT:December 2, 2008John C. Reilly has two tricks up his sleeve: he plays either a socially awkward and overgrown baby or a sadist. So his role in The Promotion, in theory, was a good idea - a socially awkward recovering addict out to get his competition (Seann William Scott, who has progressed from Steve Stiffler to Still Stiffler over the last decade...) for the job of manager at their grocery store's newest location. Reilly, however, gets stuck between his two stong suits, and plays them both ambivalently, with no help from a flat performance by Stiffler. While I wasn't expecting anything brilliant out of this one, short of the sparse few laughs along the way, somehow this was still quite disappointing. Slice of life, maybe, but it didn't ring true enough.
