The Promotion            8/7–8, 8/10

Thurs.–Fri., August 7th–8th, 8 p.m., Sun., August 10th, 7 p.m.

Written and directed by Steve Conrad. Running time: 85 minutes. Country: USA. Year: 2008. Rated R.

Screenwriter Steve Conrad (The Weather Man, The Pursuit of Happyness) makes his directorial debut with this quirky workplace comedy. Doug (Seann William Scott) and Richard (John C. Reilly) are both assistant managers at a Chicago-area grocery store. Doug is reliable and functional, with a sweet, supportive wife (Jenna Fischer). Richard is a recovering addict starting over with a new family and clinging tenuously to sobriety via self-help tapes and a kind of Machiavelli-lite approach to his job. Both guys want to manage a new branch of the grocery chain. At various times, each deserves the job...and each doesn’t. However, each in his own way needs the promotion. “At last, we have a completely and profoundly American movie with all the classical skills of timing, editing and character development that we associate nostalgically with some Hollywood golden age” —Andrew Sarris, New York Observer. (Rated R for language including sexual references, and some drug use.)