Starring Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly. Rated 14A.

Ever wonder what kind of cutthroat politics went into deciding who would become branch manager of your local supermarket? Me neither. And yet The Promotion engages you in the process as it centres on two schlemiels vying for the same job at a new store in suburban Chicago.

The guys in question are destined to live ordinary lives no matter what, but they are walking windows into the dreams and frustrations of the less-than-brilliant among us. In this pitch-perfect directorial debut for Steve Conrad, who wrote the scripts for The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weatherman, it certainly helps that said schmoes are played by Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly.

The film’s POV is skewed toward Scott’s Doug Stauber, a browbeaten Everyman presumably getting by on good looks and the support of an impossibly patient partner (The Office’s Jenna Fischer). They are desperate to get out of a poky apartment where they know far too much about their banjo-playing neighbour’s sex life. When a branch is due to open nearby, assistant manager Doug is a shoo-in—until a new assistant blows in from a sister store in Quebec.

Affable Canadian Richard (Reilly, hilarious avec accent) has a Scottish wife (Lili Taylor) and a seemingly more savvy way with people. But the guy is actually a drug-and-alcohol–dependent mess. When this is spotted by Doug, a moral dilemma (and the film’s dark comedy) begins to centre on how far he will go to knock his rival out of the game.

Of course, we don’t care that much who finally gets the job, so there are dryly funny visits from side characters like Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen as Doug’s blasé boss, Gil Bellows as the humorless head of the supermarket board, and Jason Bateman as a motivational coach who literally makes bag boys walk over hot coals. For viewers inclined toward subtle observational humour, The Promotion offers far more pleasure than pain.