The Promotion
Promotional poster
Directed by	Steven Conrad
Produced by	Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein
Written by	Steve Conrad
Starring	Seann William Scott John C. Reilly Jenna Fischer Lili Taylor Gil Bellows Fred Armisen
Music by	Alex Wurman
Cinematography	Lawrence Sher
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	June 6, 2008
Country	United States
Language	English

The Promotion is a 2008 American comedy film written and directed by Steven Conrad. A look at the quest for the American Dream, it focuses on two grocery store managers trying for a promotion.

The film premiered at South by Southwest in March 2008. It was released by Dimension Films on June 6, 2008.

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 Production notes 3 Cast 4 Critical reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Doug Stauber (Seann 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.

[edit] 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 included Masi Oka of Heroes^[1].

The film's previous title was Quebec.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Cast

• Seann William Scott as Doug Stauber
• John C. Reilly as Richard Welhner
• Gil Bellows as Mitch
• 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 Officer

[edit] Critical reception

The Promotion received mixed reviews from critics. As of July 2009 the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 52% of critics gave the film positive reviews based on 73 reviews, with a consensus of "With a workplace-related theme worthy of satire, The Promotion features some sharp witticisms but ultimately disappoints."^[2] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 21 reviews.^[3]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Promotion at the Internet Movie Database
• The Promotion at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Promotion at Metacritic
• The Promotion at Box Office Mojo
• The Promotion at Allmovie