Most if not all of what you've heard about this movie is wrong, or wrongheaded. Yes, it was made for about a buck-forty-nine, but so what? The only people who should care about that sort of thing are the beancounters. No, it's not a misogynist picture, nor are the central characters misogynists. The picture revolves around Chad, and Chad humiliates men and women with equal zeal.
He's all ego and id, amoral, sadistic - a sociopath. If you don't recognize him then you probably haven't spent much time in the business world, and you probably don't drive much either. The picture's distinction is not that there's never been a character like Chad in the movies before, but that there's rarely been one who was the protagonist. The film doesn't judge him or make him tragic. He does what he does and gets away with it.
Aaron Eckhart, who plays Chad, does a tremendous job in this picture. He's completely convincing, which is to say he's completely horrifying. He and the rest of the people involved in ITCOM were overlooked by the people who hand out statues, and that's a real shame. It's not what you would call enjoyable, but it's a great movie.