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04/23/09
The Promotion (2008)
53
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:74
Fresh:39
Rotten:35
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: With a workplace-related theme worthy of satire, The Promotion features some sharp witticisms but ultimately disappoints.
Runtime: 86 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: THE PROMOTION is a low-key, deader than deadpan comedy-drama that fans of THE OFFICE should love. The film stars Sean William Scott (AMERICAN PIE) and John C. Reilly (TALLADEGA NIGHTS) as assistant... [More]
Starring: John C. Reilly, Seann William Scott, Jenna Fischer, Lili Taylor
Director: Steve Conrad
Reviews for The Promotion
As bad as a severe case of the Mondays.
06/13/08
What we get is either a drama that never takes itself seriously -- or a comedy that’s rarely funny.
06/05/08
Tone and pace are absolutely crucial to comedy. If the tone is wrong or the pace is off - by even a hair - the comedy will shrivel up and die. And that's precisely what happens in The Promotion.
06/14/08
Screenwriter Steve Conrad's (The Pursuit of Happyness) directorial debut is too strait-laced for the Knocked Up set and too offensive for the Will Smith crowd.
06/13/08
The Promotion is generally harmless but boring.
06/27/08
The Promotion tries for the dry, low-key vibe of Election, but its humor is not so much dry as evaporated.
06/13/08
Muted bits of slapstick and verbal insults arrive with more clunkers than zingers, but the performances are adequate and the tone sincere.
06/02/08
Not much here is funny, the Chicago locations are drab, and the characters, as ordinary as they are, never develop into anything more than premise props.
06/05/08
There's still a lot to like here, but ultimately the movie reflects its hapless hero a little too well. While we're constantly rooting for it to succeed, the finish line seems forever out of reach.
06/06/08
Formulaic structure, inconsistent tone, and underwritten roles overshadow the few merits in the feature directorial debut of Conrad, who made a stronger impression as the writer of The Weather Man.
03/12/08
So laid-back that it barely registers, despite starring two guys who haven't exactly been shrinking violets in previous outings.
06/11/08
Here's a weird little comedy... Kind of like Clerks in a bigger store, or at least a funny version of Employee of the Month.
06/06/08
Fizzles as a comedy and as an exploration of the stresses of work.
06/20/08
Director Steve Conrad probably counts on the natural likability of Scott and Reilly to make this comedy go down a little easier, but it doesn't always do the trick.
06/12/08
A work-retreat sequence is hilarious, thanks to a scene-stealing supporting bit from Jason Bateman. And Reilly's convincing portrayal of the somewhat self-destructive Richard does make the whole thing watchable.
07/11/08
The portrayal of employment in America is too close for comfort. Or comedy...Not the stuff of lighthearted summer comedy.
06/12/08
Total and forgettable and unforgivable blandness.
06/13/08
Add watching The Promotion to the Geneva Conventions' list of humanitarian abuses.
03/10/08
Top Critic"The Promotion" needs some career counseling to figure out just what it really wants to be.
06/09/08
Latest News for The Promotion
May 25, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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