zetes 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. One might expect it to be about the over-the-top pranks the two play on each other, but this film chooses to play it much more realistically. Each mostly just hopes the other will fail and perhaps does subtler things to cause the other to trip. Some people have found that boring, but I think it was the right choice. The comedy is quirky, and it frequently, I must admit, flops. 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). Perhaps the aspect that makes the film succeed most is its affection for its characters. The two competitors are both nice guys at heart, and both have believable reasons for needing this promotion. Far from being a great film, but it's worth a viewing.

dzlz105 I stumbled on this movie on cable and watched most of it. This is not a side-splitting comedy; you smile at the situations because they are so close to the truth. I've worked at less-than-professional jobs, where people were asked to report on one another, to wear paper hats & blow noisemakers at team-building events, to repeat slogans, and the like. Not too many movies focus on everyday work life -- the titans in the banking industry, with their huge bonuses, should watch this to see how the other 98 percent of us live. The two main characters are portrayed sympathetically. I was surprised at how Reilly was able to depart from his usual pie-in-the-face acting style. I'm not familiar with Scott's acting, but I liked his open-faced sincerity in this movie. Cute bit in the last scene as he's dashing down the street. Did he do his own stunts? My opinion: This is not a superb movie, but it's much better than most TV shows.

Enchorde Recap: Doug is the assistant manager at the local Donaldsons. And soon they will be opening a new market, and Doug sees the possibility to step up to full manager. He sees his chance to buy a house, to get happiness for himself and for his girlfriend. And his manager says he is a shoe-in. But suddenly Richard turns up from Canada and provides unexpected competition. Suddenly everything is up for grabs, and both Doug and Richard are determined to grab it. At all costs.Comments: This didn't really live up to my expectations. Truth to be told, I had quite high expectations. But that sort of comes when you have Sean William Scott and John C Reilly as your stars. Both have proved before to be really good at making good comedies, and from the trailer I expected this was another one.Unfortunately, I didn't think this was one of them. I expected it to be high paced one after another. Sure, a lot of them would be rather pointless, and some of them would go over, or should I say under, the line. But I expected that those would be small exceptions. Instead it is the good jokes that seem to be the exception. Not that it is filled with bad jokes either, there just seem to be long stretches of voids in between them. Stretches where both Doug (especially) and Richard dig their respective holes deeper, by themselves. Not because of constantly mischievous scheming, plotting and sabotaging each other, as I got the feeling from the trailer.It does have some good points, but fell at its own hands. They promised a lot more than they could deliver.5/10

jhusk13 This movie was absolutely awful...I can't even think of an articulate way to describe this movie; which could detract credibility from my remarks. This movie isn't worthy of a thoughtful summary. It's a pile of trash. Apologies to those who find that judgement too harsh, you're wrong, there is no silver lining in this black cloud. Here's why: After viewing "Mr. Woodcock," it became abundantly clear to me that Seann William Scott will doesn't read scripts, he just accepts the work. He's not steve stiffler anymore, as bad as he want to be. To appeal to a greater demographic (than that of American pie) he seriously needs to find roles where he actually does some acting. His character in this movie is terribly frustrating to watch. The dialog he has with everyone else in the movie feels awkward and forced at best. 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. A marijuana addicted French Canadian with a daughter and a Scottish wife....ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? What a horrible character. That whole scene about "cracking the cheese" just about caused me to throw a large stone through my beautiful, large television. I like stupid movies, Harold and Kumar (both of them) are two of my favorite movies of all time. I can appreciate a good stoner 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?!?!?!? WHY!?!?! Just employ a freaking Scottish actress!! Why oh Why do production companies greenlight projects like these? The story is nothing but childish feuding, and would best be served as a failed pilot for a NBC sitcom...