The setting of this low-key comedy is a Chicago supermarket in which two loyal, identically qualified employees are jockeying for a promotion to store manager. Both badly need the new position and accompanying salary raise: Doug (Seann William Scott) has just invested his savings in a non-refundable deposit on a house that he can't really afford, while Richard (John C. Reilly), a recovering alcoholic, wants to prove he can handle additional responsibility and still hold on to his hard-won sobriety. As a result, each does his level best to sabotage the other in campaigns that are sneaky, underhanded, and oddly understated. To his credit, writer-director Steve Conrad doesn't take the easy way out by resorting to silly slapstick, but perhaps he should have, since the situations here simply lack comedic punch. Reilly is fine, but Scott seems ill-suited to a nebbish role that's at odds with his usual brash screen persona (their respective wives are played by Lili Taylor and Jenna Fischer, neither of whom gets much of a chance to shine). The Promotion has a solid concept, but this is comedy on such a laidback scale that it barely registers. Not a necessary purchase. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary (by writer-director Steven Conrad, and producers Jessika Borsiczky Goyer and Steven A. Jones), a 19-minute “making-of” featurette, five promotional webisodes (9 min.), six deleted scenes (8 min.), three minutes of outtakes, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for an underwhelming comedy.] (E. Hulse)
The Promotion
Genius, 86 min., R, DVD: $19.98, Sept. 2 Volume 23, Issue 6
The Promotion
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