The Promotion

Plot synopsis:
Doug Stauber (Seann William Scott) is the assistant manager of a branch of Donaldson's, a supermarket chain in Chicago. He believes that he is a "shoo-in" for manager of a Donaldson's that is scheduled for construction just a few blocks away from his home. Everyday, Doug deals with the pressures of being the assistant manager. Among his ordeals are an unruly gang of teenagers loitering around the parking lot, the overwhelming amount of negative comments on the customer survey cards he collects (nearly all of which are caused by the gang's antics), a foreigner who constantly slaps him over a box of Teddy Grahams and the rumors about him being a former Junior Olympics medalist in gymnastics. Then one day, Richard Wehlner (John C. Reilly) and his family move in from Quebec, and he becomes assistant manager alongside Doug.
Over the course of the film, the two men fight for the managerial job, trying to impress the store's manager Scott (Fred Armisen) and the Donaldson's board of directors, led by Mitch (Gil Bellows). The competition causes strain on their respective marriages. Doug is under financial pressure to get the job because he has begun to buy a house that he cannot afford if he is not promoted while his wife Jen (Jenna Fischer) ponders on going to night school. Meanwhile, Richard's wife Laurie (Lili Taylor) and daughter leave him to temporarily move to her parents' home in Scotland when she sees he is losing control and reverting to previous problem behavior.
Since Richard's arrival, it appears that he has replaced Doug as front-runner for the job. But it soon becomes clear that Richard has disadvantages of his own, such as a past substance abuse problem and a tendency to make inappropriate remarks. In one incident, both men are challenged by the board of directors over a sign posted on the deli section window, citing the deli clerk as Employee of the Month for "cutting the cheese". Richard admits being manager on duty when the sign was discovered, and explains that he had not realized that the phrase is derogatory to the American public (claiming that "cracking the cheese" is what Canadians say).
One day, while helping a customer in the parking lot, Doug is hit on the back of the head by a bottle of Yoo-hoo thrown by one of the gang members. In retaliation, he confronts the gang and sprays one of them with mace. Further worsening the situation is an incident in the break room, where a furious Doug throws some frozen Tater Tots toward the trash can and accidentally hits Richard's hand with one; Richard fakes an injury by wearing a wrist brace at work. Days later, Doug gives an apology speech at a local community explaining his actions during the incident and wins the respect of the community, assuring them that a beautiful day should not be spoiled by a few "bad apples". After the meeting, the board of directors, the assistant managers and the community leaders have a brief meeting, wherein Richard inadvertently refers to the gang as "black apples", infuriating the head community leader (Chris Gardner).
After several attempts to eliminate each other as competitors, both Doug and Richard, along with another prospect, are summoned by the board of directors for a final interview. Richard's hopes are shattered when it is revealed that a drug test is required, as he has recently smoked marijuana. Shortly after the interview, Doug is given a call by Mitch and notified that he has landed the job, as Richard failed his drug test and the other candidate is too junior-grade for the position. He celebrates by doing cartwheels and backflips while crossing the street – finally confirming the earlier rumor about himself. Meanwhile, after reuniting with his wife, Richard and his family return to Canada to his old grocery store, where he is reported to have become the store manager after singlehandedly stopping an accidental fire (which is rumored to have been started by Richard himself).

Tags: prank, satire, boring, flashback

Review:
My first clue that "The Promotion" might have a little more below the surface than the usual Seann William Scott junior gag fest was the trailer...it didn't have too much easy humor and the plot seemed genuinely human, and even sensitive.
Something was up.After seeing the film, I am pleased to say that lurking under the veneer of a slightly stupid mass-market comedy is a deftly knowing little indie movie waiting to surface.The bad part of course is --- I don't know if many who would like the film will see it.
Yeah, there are a few pratfalls, but most of the time you're shriveling in your seat feeling horribly for John Reilly.He's always been incredible at cutting to the human core of all his characters and he really shines in this part.
Naturally there's some tension between both men competing for the position, but overall the humor is weak; the competitive nature of the applicants is unconvincing and the story flat-lines a couple of minutes into the film.John C.
Reilly is the hopeful manager from Canada while the incumbent is Seann William Scott.There's nothing to it, nothing to expect and with only a hint of infidelity or upheaval, it's best left out of the spotlight - preferably collecting dust someplace in a $1 rental outlet....
Reilly and Will Farrell, I was not expecting much when I watched Reilly star alongside Seann William Scott in what looked to me like your standard rivalry comedy.
Scott is Doug Stauber, a regular guy with a regular job at a supermarket and he's looking to get a promotion to store manager.
The simplicity of his character is illustrated in a charming interaction with his wife, where she assures him that things will be okay, she can get a job and help them make money.Doug: "I wanna be the primary breadwinner, Jen."Jen: "Female lions do the hunting"Doug: "I'm not a lion, I'm a guy"But then a Richard Wehlner, a charming Canadian transfer, arrives and they each realize that they are both seeking the same position.
Doug and Richard respect and even like each other, which makes their competition genuinely interesting.The movie centers on each man's inability to figure out how they are supposed to respond to and treat each other.
The escalation of their competition and the gradual collapse of their formality is far more than I had expected from the movie, and the best way that the movie succeeds is that it makes us want to root for both of them.I noticed another user said on the IMDb that the movie was like an attempt to "pull a Jim Carrey or Will Farrell." This person has missed the point of the movie so completely and so ridiculously that it's difficult for me to believe that he actually watched it.
The Promotion is a smart movie starring two guys best known for doing not very smart comedy.
This film is about two assistant managers of a supermarket fighting for a promotion to become the manager of the new branch.The two assistant managers, Doug and Richard, are both developed well.
Some comedies make you laugh out loud, but this one makes you smile inside.A languid tale of competition and two guys just trying to get bye in the world, both afraid of failure and willing to hurt the other to make it but each wrapped up in tragedy and common decency.It will come as a surprise to many that Seann William Scott can actually act and he has real if understated presence in this.John C Reilly is his usual excellent self but it is the tale that is the real star.It is easy to make a comedy based on physical slapstick or outrageous language and acts.
John C Reilly, who is both a tremendous character actor and a great comedy guy is the most disappointing aspect of the movie.
Her worse performance ever and would have been worthy of a Razzie award if the movie was higher profile and her role more prominent.There's still a nice basic plot, some moments are funny enough.
I felt like this was really obvious, but I guess not.It is great to see a movie that is funny, and does not have to use obscene material to accomplish this.
The strange fact is that it's the characters and the story of "The Promotion" which endeared the movie to me rather than the humour.That's not to say that "The Promotion" isn't funny because it is.
It may not be laugh-out-loud funny but it's filled with enough strange little moments (a scene of one employee at the supermarket shaving in the middle of the aisle for example) to raise a few smiles.Of the two main characters, Sean William Scott is the one whom the audience is drawn towards.
His competition for the position is played by the always reliable John C Reilly and it's nice that Reilly's character isn't presented as the bad guy but just a normal man with his own aspirations and dreams.
The same is also true if you enjoyed "The Weather Man" (also written by Steve Conrad) or "Juno" (Jason Bateman from that movie appears here in a brief cameo incidentally).Beneath the humour, i liked the message of "The Promotion" and the way in which it told that message.
sometimes we bump into each other" Reilly's character explains at one point) and, more specifically, on what it's like to be a man in the modern world.It may have some problems here or there (the Scottish accent used by Reilly's wife is terrible for example) but it has a big heart and is incredibly entertaining.
This movie looked like it could be funny, so I went this afternoon and wasn't disappointed.
Reilly), who were joined with a good supporting cast, including Jenna Fischer (from NBC's "The Office"), who plays Doug's wife, and Fred Armisen (from "SNL"), who plays Doug & Richard's boss.The writing was excellent and the dialogue seemed to flow naturally.
It at least makes up for the forgettable "Mr. Woodcock".I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone in the mood for a good comedy, well written & acted..
After watching Mr.Woodcock and Southland Tales, I was really looking forward to Seann William Scott's next production "The Promotion".
Reilly gives a good performance although his character was a bit unpredictable, at first I sort of expected an intense but wacky rivalry like one of Vince Vaughn's treacherous characters, but John played a goofball with some serious cultural clashes.
The other characters fit in well, with notable exceptions to the store manager and the executive guy, Mitch, who was very suave and professional throughout the movie.7/10, it's a good viewing for those who like to laugh, settle down, perceive some rather dramatic or emotional parts, then laugh again..
I went into The Promotion hoping for a nice comedy to pass the evening, seeing as, after all, it was Sean Williams Scott and this John Reilly fella.
Mr. John C Reiley has made a name for himself through such drama filled gems as "walk hard" and "talladega knights." It's good to see The Promotion allow him to evolve and branch out into such a complex character.
God forbid the actors/actresses in this movie make the slightest effort to provide any humanistic qualities or emotions in their roles, and actually make you identify and relate to them.acting was god-awful, writing was even worse, there is no cinematography to speak of, etc.P.S. Lili Taylor (she's amazing in 'six feet under') with an F-ING Scottish ACCENT?!?!?!?
Sean William Scott played a push over, a wimp who was the opposite of the American Pie Stifler character that he's known for.
it is clear to me that Seann William Scott has been chosen to play his part here because his appeal towards the "American pie" franchise; those teenagers that are a bit older right now and find themselves in a corporate environment that "takes no prisoners".
i kid you not, there is NOTHING to be learned here at all, i can not believe i have wasted my time to watch such nonsense.this is about the struggle and stress any American worker encounters at his/her work place; the competition that is promoted within any corporation for achieving "maximum best".
all black people are complete stereotypes(the worst ones), all Latin people always work the low end jobs(!?), Canadians are "wiered", and the list can go on...for anyone thinking this is anything like "office space", i warn you; stay away.
I sat there watching this film, waiting to be entertained, waiting to laugh and waiting to see these characters battle for said promotion.
It's an unfunny, undecided film that lost it's focus from the script stage.The two leads are Sean William Scott and John C.
He seems to be trying to leave the immature image of him at the door, it doesn't seem to be working because he is boring people to death.The main problem with the film is that these two guys don't battle for said promotion.
An assistant manager (Seann William Scott) works for a grocery store for years, he apply for the manager spot at a new branch opening near his home.
Now the two workers start competition with each other for the job and as well for finding their weakness.Written and Directed by Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happiness, The Weather Man, Wrestling Ernest Hemingway) made an uneven, sometimes amusing comedy about two different men, who have goals for their future.
Fairly sloppy indie comedy about two guys, Seann William Scott and John C.
Reilly, vying for a promotion to head manager at a soon-to-open branch of the grocery store at which they work.
But when it works sometimes it does so brilliantly, and the film certainly has its great moments (Scott's discovery of the ancientness of a Hilights-like magazine he finds at the doctor's office, for example, or the brief flashback to Reilly's improbable biker gang days).
In this film, the director and writer (Steve Conrad) and the writer stereotype the actors playing characters who are considered to be insiders or outsiders (this is clearly seen in characterizations by Seann William Scott and John C.
Strangely enough, these acts of sabotage are few and far between, and didn't come off as either funny or essential, but more like that of desperation.Seann William Scott can never seem to be able to break out from his jock role, though his Doug Stauber tried hard to carry the movie through by sharing with the audience his hopes and dreams, of being stuck in a dead end routine job with an incompetent boss.
Reilly's Richard Welhner from the supermarket's sister company in Canada, and he too is eying that job so that he can feed his family and provide them the nice to haves like various enrichment classes.
I have been use to hilariously great movies from SWS, i hope this backwards step isn't going to be an ongoing feature of his films.
Another probably otherwise pointless genre teaser In writer Conrad's directorial debut, Doug (Seann William Scott) assistant manager at a chain store called Donaldson's, must make it to manager at the new branch soon opening up so his wife can continue her medical training and they can make a down payment on a modest house.
And in the end somebody wins the job.Is this a serious film with some comic moments (and overly pushed recurrent jokes), or a comedy that isn't very funny?
Reilly as an increasingly uninteresting loser; at best it may give Seann William Scott hope, if he wants it, of taking on more serious roles; but has he the depth for them?
Some of the jokes in The Promotion (IE: "black apples" and the foreigner who gets violent over a box of Teddy Grahams) seem geared more for mainstream comedy films, while the observations the film makes about male masculinity along with the nine-to-five hell of the workplace make the film a more low-key comedy with abrupt situational humor.A strange hybrid this is, placing two talented actors at its core - the inherently likable Seann William Scott and the exuberant character actor John C.
The blatant comedy actually works more often than not, and the ideas it throws in about male masculinity and striving for the top position work, even if they're only given a surface explanation and depiction in the film.Scott and Reilly also nicely and subtly personify the conflict between younger, more adaptable blood and older, more traditionalist blood.
Very often it feels like a teenager who occasionally wants to be insightful and sometimes just wants to be lazy.Starring: Seann William Scott and John C.
A lot of familiar faces keep popping up in the course of "The Promotion," a charming indie comedy set in the outskirts of Chicago.The ever-endearing Seann William Scott (Stifler from the "American Pie" series) plays Doug Stauber, an assistant manager at a grocery store who's having trouble controlling not only his own subordinates but the obnoxious gang members who seem to have taken up residence in the parking lot and spend their time harassing the shoppers.
Seann William's Scott (Doug) was okay but he never really seemed that interested and wasn't funny.
Brave in that it doesn't give you what you expect from a comedy about Sean William Scott and John C.
Some will find this violation of expectations refreshing -- others will end up let down and bored.Scott and Reilly are assistant managers for a fictitious supermarket in Chicago.
So if understated humor is your thing, it's pretty entertaining.Sean William Scott as a straight-laced operator is pretty rough cause you're always expecting him to break out into hijinx and act like a goofball.
American Pie famous Seann William Scott really acted well in tough situations, John C.
The main beauty of the movie is simplicity, characters feel like real humans.
I saw who was in the movie and I thought this would actually make for a good comedy.
I was expecting more comedy from the movie.Seann William Scott (playing Doug Stauber) and John C.
Reilly did add their own personal touches to the movie and their characters.
Fred Armisen (playing Scott Fargas) was also quite good in this movie, despite having only a supporting role."The Promotion" has a good storyline, but it is not really all that rich on comedy, which was a disappointment to me.
Reminded me of jobs I had worked in where people didn't take things very seriously.I would recommend this movie to others (and I have).BTW, it was nice to see Seann William Scott take a departure from his usual idiotic roles..
Scott wasn't really very convincing saying all the time he loves the movie.
Doug (Seann William Scott) is a seemingly ordinary guy who works as the assistant manager of a supermarket near Chicago.
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.
"The Promotion" from the writer of "Pursuit of Happiness" 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.
Reilly and Seann William Scott worked really well.
It started off great, story was OK (tho overdone it never gets boring cuz it's so real) and characters were decent -although John Reilly's character kept switching (I don't think the writer/director knew what he wanted exactly).
But that basically is the problem with this movie: the two assistant managers compete for the main managerial spot at a new location opening soon BUT instead of quirky and witty games, tricks and etc to play on each other NEITHER of them are bad guys so neither of them are doing it...
Seann William Scott and John C Reilly are competing assistant managers in a large scale chain store who end up competing for the manager spot in a soon to open new location.
I expected better from Steve Conrad who has written really good films like The Pursuit of Happiness and The Weather Man. The plot was unoriginal.
Outrageously stupid film with 2 basic losers vying for a store manager's position that is opening in a new branch store being opened.How any member of personnel could even think of choosing these 2 jerks is beyond me.The jokes are corny but there is plenty of racism here and it's real stupidity depicted at its best.How did John C.
THE PROMOTION (2008) **1/2 Sean William Scott, John C.
"The Promotion" stars Seann William Scott (in his most challenging role since "Dude, where's my car") and John C Reilly (in his best work since "Never Been Kissed") as two rival assistant managers at a grocery store.
I was hoping for non-stop pranks and capers, yet the film didn't go there and just placed Reilly's character, Richard, in a few awkward moments where he was made to look stupid.
You'd expect some non-stop shenanigans and then it turns out neither gets the job, but the film plays out quite like how it would in real life.
Neither actor is given much of a leash and is played reasonably straight.The film was OK (wifey actually really liked it), but I guess didn't turn out how I expected.
I felt like a night of silly jokes but the film didn't deliver, although I kind of respect what the writer/director (Steve Conrad, who wrote "The Pursuit of Happiness") tried to do.
But that sort of comes when you have Sean William Scott and John C Reilly as your stars.
Scott is pretty good but Reilly's character is dull and boring and the film takes on those characteristics as well.
Ahh, it seems to be that director (Steve Conrad) remembered everything, and – as the movie's writer – forgot the script !(The Promotion) is a delicate movie, but cold as a drama or comedy.