I often point out (OK, let's face it, complain) that we see the same plots and ideas over and over again. This is especially true when it comes to comedies. Once a comedy fits into a subgenre, such as romantic comedy, slacker comedy, gross-out comedy, certain stereotypical pieces fall into place, and the movie is off and running. Are some of these movies good? Sure, they are, but it would be nice to see someone do something different. Which makes me wonder why we don't see more workplace comedies (on the big screen -- this has always been popular on television). Office Space and Nine to Five immediately come to mind and those are both good movies, but can you name any other ones? Of course, just because someone decides to jump on this bandwagon, this doesn't ensure that the results will be good.

Demoted takes place at Treadline, a tire company. Rodney (Michael Vartan) and Mike (Sean Astin) are two hotshot salesman at the company, and they get along well with their boss, Bob (Robert Klein). They also love to tease and prank fellow salesman, Ken (David Cross). When Bob suddenly dies, Ken is placed in charge due to his seniority. His first act as boss is to demote Rodney and Mike to secretaries. Overnight, these two wild-men who used to run the office now find themselves having to fetch coffee and make copies. They are reluctantly embraced by the secretarial manager, Jane (Celia Weston). Rodney hides the truth about his demotion from his fiancee, Jennifer (Sara Foster). Mike and Rodney struggle in their new positions, as Ken gets drunk on power. But, Mike and Rodney aren't quitters and as they learn the ropes, they begin to change their ways.

It's certainly not wrong for us to expect certain things from certain people. If someone has been good in the past, or sports a fine resume, it's logical to look for quality work from them. Demoted offers some familiar talent who could and should deliver. I've loved David Cross in things like Arrested Development and the various cameos he does in films. Director J.B. Rogers cut his teeth working with The Farrelly Brothers and then got his break directing American Pie 2. Sean Astin stole the show as the lisping brother in 50 First Dates. Michael Vartan...well, he's not known for comedy, but he's usually solid.

However, the movie's biggest issue is that it simply isn't funny. The movie offers some very broad jokes and some physical comedy, usually at Cross' expense, but it's never clever or smart. The jokes just lay there and do nothing. I don't think I even smiled in this film. This is a shame, because Cross is so naturally funny. But, by casting him as the villain, any joke will come from him being victimized and this doesn't produce any funny material. The third act actually scores more points for its touching moments rather than its funny ones. This exposes the odd dual nature of Demoted. In many ways, it wants to be the kind of raunchy comedies which Pepper Rogers' resume. However, the movie also has a message about equality in the workplace which gets lost in the shuffle for most of the film. The scenes in the second half of the movie where Rodney and Mike get their come-uppance show what Demoted could have been.

Most everyone has had a job or a boss which they've hated, so one would think that making a universally appealing workplace comedy would be easy. But, even when things are easy, some work must be done. Demoted trots out a lot of tired ideas and expects us to embrace them. The result is a movie which pushes the viewer away, offers nothing new, and then attempts to make up for this with a finale which skews towards the treacle. I think I'll call in sick for this one.

Demoted puts far too much emphasis on donut jokes on Blu-ray Disc courtesy of Anchor Bay Entertainment. The film has been letterboxed at 1.85:1 and the Disc contains an AVC 1080p HD transfer which runs at an average of 25 Mbps. Given the state of modern technology, reviewing Blu-ray Discs can seem very tedious, as most of them look good. Demoted is an exception. The image is too bright, looking very washed out at times. This has rendered the colors very lifeless in some scenes. This has also accentuated the grain in the daytime scenes. I don't know if this is the result of the transfer or the source materials, but it can't be ignored. This made a modern movie look some low-budget offering from the 80s. The Disc carries a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track which runs at 48 kHz and an average of 2.0 Mbps. The track provides clear dialogue and sound effects. For the most part, this is a pretty standard track. We get some office sound effects coming from the left and right channels, as well as some surround sound during the picketing scene. The nightclub scenes provides some music which brings the bass into the action.

The Demoted Blu-ray Disc contains no extra features.