DVD Review: The Promotion - Funny and Often Profound Look at the Travails of Middle Management

by Tony Dayoub



Comedies usually appeal to me if they are absurdly funny - think Pee Wee's Big Adventure or There's Something About Mary - or extremely intelligent and witty -think Annie Hall or The Apartment. If both types happen to intersect, a rarity, then you really have a winner. Examples of this include The Big Lebowski or Some Like It Hot. Losers are movies that fail to be consistent in sustaining any of these stylistic aims. That's why unlike many of the critical world at large, I found Pineapple Express and Tropic Thunder to be so weak. They were uneven in tone and failed in sustaining their humor over the length of the movie. That is also why I was caught by surprise when I viewed The Promotion, directed by Steven Conrad. This movie got an extremely limited theatrical release, and yet is consistently funny, honest, and often profound in its sympathetic view of middle management in the world of grocery stores.


Doug Stauber (Seann William Scott) is an assistant manager at Donaldson's, a grocery chain. His girlfriend, Jen (Jenna Fischer) works for a handsome doctor (Bobby Cannavale) who keeps calling him "Guy" every time they run into each other. Doug's manager, Scott (Fred Armisen) tells him he's a shoo-in for manager of the new Donaldson's opening nearby. So Doug convinces Jen they're ready to buy a house.

Then Richard Welhner (John C. Reilly) transfers in from a sister store in Quebec. Richard is likable, but a bit of a failure in life. The recovering addict is married to lovely Lori (Lili Taylor), who he met on a Christian mission. This after past lives in a biker gang, and other mysterious dead end endeavors hinted at by the gigantic KISS tattoo on his chest. Richard sees the new management position as his redemption. And the motivational tape he listens to on his walkman never lets him forget he should stay on the right track,despite his amazing inability to succeed at that pursuit.

The strong cast is one of the highlights of the film. Reilly (Boogie Nights) is his usual solid self, giving poor Richard a list of quirks without ever descending into self-parody. In one scene he tries to convince some higher ups that he was unaware of the joke when he saw a poster in the deli rewarding an employee "for cutting the cheese". He claims that in Canada the expression does not have a double meaning. It just means "cutting actual cheese." The usually clownish Scott (American Pie) is surprising here, playing the straight man to Reilly's antics. As Doug, he is a meek man who often follows instructions by a manager, which will be countermanded moments later if the manager suspects "The Board" may disagree with his solution. Doug submerges his day-to-day frustrations in pursuit of a goal that may not even be sufficient to satisfy his ambitions.

As Doug and Richard compete for the position, writer-director Conrad never sides with one man or the other. Both are decent human beings with aspirations beyond their pathetic jobs. Both are equally capable of pulling some vindictive stunts to keep the other man down. And Conrad, who is better known as a writer (The Weather Man, The Pursuit of Happyness), respects each man's stamina in their bureaucratic nightmare of a job. Conrad is a promising director, and I'm sure this movie will attract a growing audience in the home market, much like Office Space did.

As Conrad confirms in a promotional featurette, The Promotion is a paean to the little guys, the Dougs and the Richards, who show up to work every day despite a thankless, Kafkaesque career.

The Promotion is available on DVD today.

Still provided courtesy of Genius Products and The Weinstein Company.

Movie Review: Tropic Thunder - Repetitive Jokes Fail to Keep This Spoof Aloft

by Tony Dayoub



Read today's post (and its subsequent comment thread) on Glenn Kenny's movie blog, and you'll get a sense of how the rapidly waning days of the summer movie season can play tricks with a man's mind. It seems like with kids heading back to school, one of the most exciting Olympiads in recent memory, and the intimidating behemoth of The Dark Knight still looming large in multiplexes, studios have designated August as the dumping ground for their weakest films. In the last few weeks we've seen the release of the third Mummy movie (who cares), Pineapple Express (virtually unintelligible and not funny), and now Tropic Thunder, which I was really hoping would lift me out of the funk. But with flicks like this one, it's easy to see why Kenny is so downbeat on the state of cinema today.


The movie follows a film crew shooting a Vietnam war movie. After going over budget, the film's director (Steve Coogan) decides to shoot the film guerrilla-style. Dropping his group of actors in the perilous jungles of Burma, most of them realize the true danger they are in. But Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) remains blissfully unaware for much longer, focused instead on reinvigorating his declining career. With Method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey, Jr.) and drug-addled comic star Jeff Portnoy (Jack Black) only slightly less confused than Speedman, hilarity should ensue. Co-written and directed by Stiller, Thunder spoofs action movies, war movies, Hollywood actors in particular, and the film industry in general.

It's this lack of focus that contributes to the idea that this is essentially an extended one-joke sketch that goes on for far too long. The dialogue is consistently witty. When Speedman tries to convince his fellow actors to go after the "Vietcongs", rapper/actor Alpa Chino (Brandon T. Jackson) replies, "It's Vietcong. The word is already plural. You wouldn't say 'Let's go after the Chineses.'" There are lots of amusing visual jokes also, like the faux trailers that open the movie, where we see Black's Portnoy starring in a Nutty Professor-like comedy where he plays multiple roles, titled The Fatties: Fart 2. There's even surprise cameos by some well-known actors of all stripes, including a substantial supporting role by Tom Cruise, as fat, balding, profane Hollywood producer, Les Grossman, that by turns can be seen as wildly raunchy or distinctly anti-semitic. But it strikes of an attempt to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks. And halfway through the film, when you pat yourself on the back for catching the umpteenth reference to Apocalypse Now, you start realizing how repetitive the movie is becoming.

Concerned about references to the mentally challenged as "retards"? The real butt of the jokes are the dense action stars, like Speedman, whose insensitivity in using the term speaks to a certain lack of awareness. Downey's performance in blackface? Again, the target is not African Americans, but the well-known Method actors who like the character of Lazarus seem to increasingly be Australian. Is Cruise's depiction of Grossman an anti-semitic caricature? Maybe, or maybe it also speaks to a certain lack of awareness by the true-life action star. That would be funny.

But forget about whether you would support a movie that is generating so much controversy right now. Better to take a break, and enjoy the Olympics at home while awaiting the start of the fall season of art movies. The fact is that while Tropic Thunder would be okay for a rental on DVD, it can and should be skipped theatrically.