Two assistant managers of a corporate grocery store vie for a coveted promotion.
At 33, Doug Stauber is ready for a promotion. He's married, wants to buy a house, and is assistant manager at a Chicago supermarket that's building a new store in his neighborhood. His boss tells him he's a shoo-in to manage the new store, then, a rival appears - Richard Wehlner, transferred from Canada. Richard has a deeper resume than Doug, is really nice, has a wife and daughter, and wants the promotion to manager too. How should Doug behave toward Richard - as a friend, a colleague, a competitor, or an enemy? Richard, it seems, has demons and a past, but with the help of motivational tapes, he's resolved to succeed. Corporate and personal tests await the two men.—<[email protected]>
Doug Stauber (Seann William Scott) is the assistant manager of a branch of Donaldson's, a supermarket chain in Chicago. He believes that he is a "shoo-in" for manager of a Donaldson's that is scheduled for construction just a few blocks away from his home. Every day, Doug deals with the pressures of being the assistant manager. Among his ordeals are an unruly gang of teenagers loitering around the parking lot, the overwhelming number of negative comments on the customer survey cards he collects (nearly all of which are caused by the gang's antics), a foreigner (Chris Conrad) who constantly slaps him over a box of Teddy Grahams, and the rumors about him being a former Junior Olympics medalist in gymnastics. Then one day, Richard Wehlner (John C. Reilly) and his family move in from Quebec, and he becomes assistant manager alongside Doug.Scott Fargus (Fred Armisen), manager of the Donaldson's where Doug and Richard work
Since Richard's arrival, it appears that he has replaced Doug as front-runner for the job. When the board comes for a visit, Richard gets to work inside the store, while Doug is assigned security patrol. To impress the board, he tries to confront the black gang, but the board thinks Doug is harassing customers and makes him apologize.But it soon becomes clear that Richard has disadvantages of his own, such as a past substance abuse problem and a tendency to make inappropriate remarks. In one incident, both men are challenged by the board of directors over a sign posted on the deli section window, citing the deli clerk as Employee of the Month for "cutting the cheese". Richard admits being manager on duty when the sign was discovered and explains that he had not realized that the phrase is derogatory to the American public (claiming that "cracking the cheese" is what Canadians say).
At the company retreat Doug throws Richard under the bus when Richard misunderstands the objective, asks Doug for help and he doesn't, which leads to Richard making a fool of himself in front of the board. Richard retaliates by taking Doug's Pepsi detail (as he knew the Pepsi rep personally) and gets him assigned to the parking lot for the entire week. Doug resorts to hiding the negative feedback comments, as all comments from the day are shipped directly to the board. Scott discovers the stash in Doug's locker and makes him deliver those personally to Mitch (the lead of the board of directors).
The competition between Doug and Richard causes strain on their respective marriages. Doug is under financial pressure to get the job because he has begun to buy a house that he cannot afford if he is not promoted while his wife Jen ponders on going to night school. Jen Stauber (Jenna Fischer), Doug's wife who works as a nurse assisting Dr. Timm (Bobby Cannavale) (pediatric surgeon).Meanwhile, Richard's wife Laurie (Lili Taylor) and daughter leave him to temporarily move to her parents' home in Scotland when she sees he is losing control and reverting to his previous behavioral problems.
One day, while helping a customer in the parking lot, Doug is hit on the back of the head by a bottle of Yoo-Hoo thrown by one of the gang members. In retaliation, he confronts the gang and sprays one of them with mace.Further worsening the situation is an incident in the break room, where a furious Doug throws some frozen Tater Tots toward the trash can and accidentally hits Richard's hand with one; Richard fakes an injury by wearing a wrist brace at work. Days later, Doug gives an apology speech at a local community explaining his actions during the incident and wins the respect of the community, assuring them that a beautiful day should not be spoiled by a few "bad apples". After the meeting, the board of directors (Mitch (Gil Bellows), leader of the Donaldson's board of directors.), the assistant managers and the community leaders have a brief meeting, wherein Richard inadvertently refers to the gang as "black apples", infuriating the head community leader.
Richard is victim of a prank by the Spanish crew of the store in approaching a Hispanic girl and complementing her clam sauce (but what he really says, translates to Pussy sauce, offending her). Richard gets angry and makes an in-store complaint about Doug for the whole Tater Tots incident. When the board arrives suddenly, Richard is caught talking about how retarded boys masturbate so much that they peel skin off their penis. Doug doesn't help Richard, prompting him to confront Doug.
After several attempts to eliminate each other as competitors, both Doug and Richard, along with another prospect, are summoned by the board of directors for a final interview. The job is Doug's, but he defends Richard and clarifies all the wrongs that are attributed to him as unfortunate coincidences.Richard's hopes are shattered when it is revealed that a drug test is required, as he has recently smoked marijuana. Shortly after the interview, Doug is given a call by Mitch and notified that he has landed the job, as Richard failed his drug test, and the other candidate is too junior grade for the position.
He celebrates by doing cartwheels and back-flips while crossing the street - finally confirming the earlier rumor about himself. Meanwhile, after reuniting with his wife, Richard and his family return to Quebec to his old grocery store, where he is reported to have become the store manager after stopping an accidental fire (which is rumored to have been started by Richard himself).
