The Promotion

Impressions before seeing it
I'm a big fan of both John C. Reilly and Jenna Fischer so that was enough to hook me.

How was it?
I kind of need to watch it again because I missed some parts due to a noisy environment, but what I saw was fun. The concept is simple and not really anything new, but it's the execution that makes it worthwhile. Seann William Scott's ironic voiceovers and John C. Reilly's subtle-douchebag-acting-like-he's-not-being-a-douchebag performance set it up for some good laughs. Fred Armisen also plays a good nerdy wiener type manager that feels like someone we probably all have met before. However I do feel that Jenna Fischer was unfortunately wasted in a minor side role as Seann William Scott's wife, who doesn't get much opportunity for comedy. It gets tiring to see this in comedies, where the men get all of the hilarious roles and the women get stuck playing the girlfriend/wife who says "Oh, you!" and rarely does anything funny. No wonder we hear actresses say there aren't enough good female roles out there.

Recommendation
Some parts almost reminded me of a comedy version of The Pursuit of Happyness, or the Zach Braff/Jason Bateman comedy The Ex. If that sounds good to you, or if you like those "person vs. person" comedies, check it out. This one got overlooked and is probably a lot better than some of the more widely released comedies out there.