“The Promotion” is one of those movies that people will over-look at the theaters and find on DVD. It’s not a complete revelation if you do find it, but it’s a breezy film that will offer up enough laughs and offers up some nice moments in which you won’t mind paying that rental fee for.

Many people claim John C. Reilly just isn’t leading star material. Well, he isn’t as handsome as Brad Pitt that’s for sure, but he’s a solid actor in film after film. I think people say that because he just hasn’t really landed a solid script to showcase him. He’s gone into comedy a lot lately; in “Walk Hard” to this coming “Step Brothers”, but once again he proves why he’s such an underrated actor. The film essentially leans on him; without him, Sean William Scott is aimless. He’s a perfect foil to Doug (Scott) and the film’s subtext is more relevant with his character than with Scott’s.

“The Promotion” is one of those films, like “Office Space” that you kind of have to work within the film’s environment to truly appreciate its charm. The film is funny, but the comedy resonates deeper if you have been in that position. As two associate managers via for a new manager position, how far will each other go to realize the goal? Well, they don’t go to over-the-top, everything, including the humor relies on the naturalness from the situation as well as its familiarity. The corporate system is a the same time a cornball, cheesy, politically correct template but also a vicious system, that can make or break someone’s career.

The film is constantly funny, a rarity nowadays, and while there’s some ideas that don’t work, they are quickly followed up by ones that do. As some rather stereotypical African-American teens loiter the parking lot without a care for store policy or Doug’s authority, these scenes are by far the film’s weaker parts. Customers constantly complain about there language and their threats against them, and in reality after these punks defy the store managers, cops would’ve been called. But the writer/director, Steve Conrad (“Pursuit of Happyness”) milks it with some nonsense that cheapens the film a little. But in the long run, it doesn’t hurt the film that much, especially when you have a scene with Reilly in which it tries to explain a fart joke to the corporate heads. He over explains it and you can sense he is just hanging himself out to dry as the suits look on in a distilled disbelief. It’s one of the film’s highlights.

It’s nice too to have the American Dream of a career and wealth explored behind the laughs. As much as success, wealth, happiness sounds on paper, the capitalism society is a brutal gauntlet. You almost say Conrad’s view is a conservative one; he has Scott explain to his wife that he must be the bread winner. This element will be debatable but he does show the women as career motivated, liberal minded people. Either way, I was really taken by surprise on how wonderfully this film was. Hopefully, you too will seek it out. It’s not for everybody, but there’s a crowd for this film that will find it on DVD.