Consistently amusing comedy, once or twice hilarious, of two doofusses in competition for the manager’s post at the new Donaldson’s grocery store: “The Leader in Quality Foods.” (The one certain point of hilarity: the “black apples” scene. You’ll know it when you’re laughing at it.) There is no clear advantage on either side, some devious jockeying for position on both sides, never any outright villainy, and thus, evenly divided sympathy. Seann William Scott and John C. Reilly are each almost as touching as they are funny — the edge goes to the reliable Reilly on both counts, but a buttoned-down Scott is the bigger revelation — and they receive good support from Jenna Fischer and Lili Taylor (doing a Scots accent for no other reason than delight) as their respective wives. The writer (previously of The Pursuit of Happyness and The Weather Man, a couple of other occupational films, although in a higher economic bracket as well as sappier emotional bracket) and first-time director, Steven Conrad, observantly and intently covers a lot of territory, from the parking-lot deadbeats to the boardroom stuffed shirts, and his comic exaggeration is never more than slight. Which helps him to stay on pitch. Nothing kills a comedy like overkill. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
This movie is not currently in theaters.