- The Promotion
Infobox Film
name = The Promotion
caption = Promotional poster
starring =John C. Reilly Sean William Scott Gil Bellows
director =Steven Conrad
writer = Steve Conrad
producer =Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein
cinematography =Lawrence Sher
music =Alex Wurman
distributor =Dimension Films
released =June 6 ,2008
country =United States
language = English
imdb_id = 0803057"The Promotion" is a 2008 American
comedy film written and directed bySteven Conrad . A look at the quest for theAmerican Dream , it focuses on two grocerystore manager s trying for a promotion.The film premiered at
South by Southwest in March 2008. It was released byDimension Films onJune 6 ,2008 .Plot summary
Doug Stauber (
Sean William Scott ) is the assistant manager of a supermarket in Chicago. He believes that he is a "shoo-in" for manager of a supermarket that is scheduled to open a few blocks away. Suddenly a new assistant manager, Richard Welhner (John C. Reilly ) comes to the store from Canada, and begins to compete for the same new job.The movie describes how the two men fight for the job, trying to impress the management of the supermarket chain. 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.
After Richard arrives, 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.
After a few attempts to eliminate each other as competitors, Doug finally gets the job when Richard fails a drug test. The story ends with Doug running on the street, doing a gymnastic act (he won the silver medal for male gymnastics in Junior Olympics) after he gets promoted, and Richard and his family heading back to Canada to his old grocery store.
Production notes
The film was shot on location in
Chicago, Illinois during the summer of 2006. It originally was slated for release in May 2007, but new scenes were added which includedMasi Oka of "Heroes" [ [http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN2223859620070423 Reuters article, April 4, 2007] ] .The film's previous title was "Quebec"
Cast
*
Seann William Scott as Doug Stauber
*John C. Reilly as Richard Welhner
*Gil Bellows as Board Executive
*Fred Armisen as Scott
*Jenna Fischer as Jen
*Bobby Cannavale as Dr. Timm
*Lili Taylor as Laurie
*Rick Gonzalez as Ernesto
*Nathan Geist as Donnie Wahls
*Jason Bateman as Camp Instructor
*Masi Oka as Loan OfficerCritical reception
"The Promotion" received mixed reviews from critics. As of August 2008, the review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes reported that 47% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 66 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009624-promotion/ |title=The Promotion Movie Reviews, Pictures - Rotten Tomatoes |accessdate=2008-06-06 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes ]Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 9 reviews. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/promotion |title=Promotion, The (2008): Reviews |accessdate=2008-06-06 |publisher=Metacritic ]References
External links
*imdb title|id=0803057|title=The Promotion
*rotten-tomatoes|id=10009624-promotion|title=The Promotion
*metacritic film|id=promotion|title=The Promotion
*mojo title|id=promotion|title=The Promotion
*amg movie|id=1:433057|title=The Promotion
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