Sometimes as an avid movie goer you’re torn between the more conversational, real person blogger and the more formal and stuffy film critic.
The blogger tends to be more enthusiastic, passionate, but naïve – often lacking in true critical faculties – and the critic has a proclivity to be hardened, grizzled and cynical (without being too
partisan, its easy to understand why – you live that grind for so long, you tend to see it all and become easily jaded).
Sometimes you have to split the difference. “The Promotion” was one of those films we didn’t see early, so in deciding this weekend, we had to choose between the mostly praising and enthusiastic blog reviews and the mostly middling or tepid critic reviews.
We paid to see it and we’d like to put the blame squarely at the feet of the aol blog Cinematical as they have been some of the most vocal proponents of this film.
And hell, it looked decent with the possibility of being a sweet indie comedy. With Sean William Scott, John C. Reily, Lily Taylor and Jenna Fischer? It seemed like it could be grounded in more reality and emotional gravitas than your average Will Ferrell movie (if he woulda starred surely it would been much more silly).
But in fact, much of it was ungood and it felt like a promising first or second draft script that could have been superb with a few more months of work, but alas.
John C. Reilly and Sean William Scott star as two rival assistant managers of a corporate grocery store vying for a coveted promotion. Both of them have families (Reilly married to Taylor; Scott with Fischer), bills, payments, responsibilities and the pressure of trying to impress their bosses and land the desired gig becomes a stressful impasse that tears the two apart. Both of them have their vices: Reilly plays a recovering drug addict from Canada who’s trying to stay on track for his family and the ineffectual, anxiety-ridden Scott is desperate to be the bring-home-the-bacon alpha male to make an impression on his already understanding girlfriend.
Accents are a plenty and as are the botching of all of them. Taylor’s character is Scottish for no good reason and her brogue is a cringe-worthy dialect that could be Irish, Scottish, British or some new mash-up invention all her own, but either way any moment she opens her mouth your thrown out of the movie with ejector seat like thrust and aplomb. Similarly, Reilly’s (French?) Canadian accent is a new creation never heard on screen and certainly never spoken within the province of Quebec.
It’s nice too see Sean William Scott play the straight guy and his attempts at nervous anxiety and the desire to play a dramatic role is admirable, but its certainly not enough. As their store manager, SNL’s Fred Armisen, should deliver laughs, but he too plays it mostly straight. The characters are so damn polite and timid too that often it feels like nothing is happening. “The Promotion” tries to be a comedy with a sense of heart and soul, but in trying to balance those two tones, the film looses its equilibrium ceases to be funny and the we never really connect with any of the not-quite-there drama.
Ostensibly it’s a serious film about hunters and gatherers: manhood, the concept of bread winning and the pressures and weight that struggling adults can put on themselves, but this doesn’t translate unless you’re looking closely. It’s not a terrible film, by any means, but it’s just remarkably average, unforgettable and lukewarm in almost every way.
And then as we write this, we realize that the New York Post gave the film a terrible review (zero stars) and Cinematical has come out in defense of the film again and we really have to urge them to quit while they’re ahead, as this as they say – is not a good look. [C]
The Promotion has some musical moments as well, including songs by Jon Fogerty, Steve Miller (“Fly Like An Eagle”), Reo Speedwagon, P.I.L. (“Rise”), The Shout Out Louds, Andrew Bird and The Flaming Lips (“Turn It On” in the final credits), and it’s semi-noteworthy, but it doesn’t elevate the middling material in the least. The soundtrack disc unfortunately won’t feature any of these tunes, but if you happen to like the original score, written by Alex Wurman, the disc came out in late May via Lakeshore (also it’s not quite the sad/happy Jon Brion-like score we thought it might be which was kind of a relief frankly, cause that’s getting a little played out).
