College Times

Issue date: 6/12/08 Section: Movies

Media Credit: Chuck Hodes

Sometimes the quickest route up the ladder of success is reached by putting your foot on someone's neck. At least that's the philosophy of "The Promotion," an offbeat comic drama that takes a decidedly jaundiced view of work life in 21st-century corporate America.

In his debut as writer/director, Steve Conrad (who scripted "The Weather Man" and "The Pursuit Of Happyness") continues his thoughtful portraits of American ambition. Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly play Doug and Richard, mid-level employees at a Chicago supermarket chain who compete for the chance to manage a new location. Both men are decent, flawed strivers, nice guys in dead-end jobs who become increasingly unpleasant under pressure.

Doug wants the job to move his wife into their first house. He's so desperate to impress her that he lies about having the job all sewn up and puts all their savings in a nonrefundable down payment. Richard, a mild-mannered Canadian who is a recovering alcoholic and addict, wants the position to convince his wife that he's stable and dependable. Complicating the situation, they each sympathize with the other, and we feel for them both.

Conrad peppers the film with scene-stealing comic cameos (Jason Bateman as a motivational guru, Fred Armisen as a disengaged store manager) but he doesn't go for overblown battles between the main players. He's more interested in observing their Altmanesque quirks of character, the way they try to undermine each other and feel guilty about it. Scott and Reilly are playing richly textured, recognizably human and three-dimensional people. Their foibles make us smile and cringe.

Stiff, tense Doug snaps when a rowdy kid beans him in the head with a soda bottle. He fires back with a blast of mace, then finds himself apologizing to a community forum accusing him of racism. Richard tries to improve store morale with employee recognition posters, but unwittingly uses a slang expression that gets him in trouble. Neither man means any harm, but they are reflexively self-defeating, and as their competition becomes more Machiavellian, they feel worse about themselves.

The pair are beautifully rendered Everymen, touchingly humorous, believably confused and gently ridiculous. What a shame that such an intelligent movie about the mainstream of American life should be an indie effort, and not part of the Hollywood mainstream.

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