Movie Review: The Promotion
The Promotion, 2008, R
Much of the promotional material for this limited-release movie is misleading. One only has to look at the cast: John C. Reilly, Seann William Scott, Fred Armisen, Jenna Fischer, Jason Bateman. It’s a story about two assistant managers (Reilly and Scott) at a grocery chain fighting for an upcoming promotion. The tagline reads: “Two guys. One job. No rules.” It sounds like the setup for a hilarious, slapsticky romp in the vein of Employee of the Month or virtually anything Reilly has ever done.
The truth is that The Promotion is none of that. I was quite surprised, instead, to find myself watching a very competent dark comedy. It’s not something Will Ferrell will sign on for, and I’m actually quite surprised Reilly co-starred. There aren’t the run-of-the-mill jokes or coarse gags, although Scott’s character has to endure listening to his homosexual apartment neighbor setting his sexual exploits to banjo music on a nightly basis. In fact, the banjo player, and other bit parts, such as a muscle-headed immigrant who shows up at random points in the movie to engage Scott in a slap-fight, feel imported from a completely different movie.
No, this is not typical fare for either star (who have acted in movies such as Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Old School, American Wedding, Dude Where’s My Car, Walk Hard, Step Brothers, Talladega Nights, and Tenacious D And The Pick of Destiny). At quite a few points in the movie I began feeling empathy for both men, along with the unexplainable desire to try pilates and make a cup of tea. Both men are socially awkward and at times painful to watch. Reilly is a Canadian who fights a daily battle against alcoholism and drug addiction while trying to care for his wife and daughter. Scott is a nobody, attempting to secure a house for his wife (Fischer) while living in the shadow of people who he feels vastly inferior to, such as his wife’s taller, handsomer boss who saves infants on a daily basis. Both men need the promotion for similar reasons: provision for their families. This promotion is never seen as a source of ego or bragging rights; instead, as Reilly puts it at the end of the movie: “We’re all just out here trying to get some food…sometimes we bump into each other.”
This is where the tagline is at its falsest. These men attempt to secure the promotion through backhanded yet legitimate ways. Neither man ever does something absurd (i.e. Dane Cook in Employee of the Month). Their frustrated efforts to gain a leg up are, at times, pathetic. About a third of the way into the movie, the board of the supermarket chain shows up to watch the store in operation while deciding who should get the promotion. Due to this, both Scott and Reilly must resort to sabotaging each other in manners arguably justifiable (although morally objectionable). At times, I felt like I was watching a tragedy.
Which is when it hit me: this is perhaps one of the truest representations of the modern American workforce that I’ve ever seen in cinema. The viewer feels the frustration, the worries, and the conflict. This promotion isn’t about winning a pretty girl or fixing a bet gone wrong. It’s about staying above the poverty line. Halfway through, Scott makes a down payment on a house that he won’t be able to afford if he doesn’t get the promotion. He pays it, not out of confidence that he will get the promotion (at this point he’s actually very worried he won’t get it), but to allow his wife to keep working so she doesn’t have to go back to school. The struggles of both men in the movie are raw and honest, and the viewer sees the injustices and twists that we all go through each day. After Reilly relapses in his drug addiction, he decides to tell his wife rather than hide it, and she promptly leaves him. This isn’t slapstick; it’s emotive.
The Promotion’s ability to frame our daily lives and showcase the hurts and anxieties that plague the workforce of today is why I gave it a relatively high rating. This is not a movie for everyone, especially for those going into it expecting a laugh-a-minute crude shtick featuring two well-known actors one-upping each other. Many people were turned off by the movie’s relatively slow pace. But the film’s story-telling, its honesty, and the promise of hope at the ending of the movie all create something that honestly touched me. It’s still a comedy at its heart, and there are occasional moments where I laughed out loud. But more importantly, I feel it has the potential to speak to many people.
7.5/10
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