Employee of the Month (2006)

Originally Reviewed

Thursday January 18, 2007

To my own amazement I found a fair amount of entertainment in a film which I myself took a turn at putting down when first released. I couldn't imagine enjoying a film that had an "all-star" cast of "actors" such as Dane Cook, Dax Shepard, Jessica Simpson, Andy Dick and Harland Williams, all people I find to be pretty talentless and annoying on their own.  But I guess every once in a while throwing together a bunch of unfunny comedians and a blonde bimbo into a story with an odd premise actually works once in a blue moon, making Employee of the Month worth the watch.

Dane Cook is Zack Bradley, a box boy at Super Club. Zack is a slacker, he's only worked hard at not getting caught not doing his job. After his failed attempt at starting his own internet company Zack decided that by not putting any effort into his life there wouldn't be anything to be disappointed in. That attitude quickly changes when he meets the new Super Club cashier Amy (Jessica Simpson). Amy is drop dead gorgeous but what would a girl like her see in a box boy like him? Obviously not much because she instantly becomes enamored with Vince (Dax Shepard) the employee of the month for 17 months straight and the fastest cashier in the southwest.

In an attempt to impress Amy, Zack decides he's going to begin to take his job more seriously and try to win employee of the month, the only problem is he picked the worst month to do it. Reigning leader Vince only needs to be named employee of the month one more time to set the record for 18 months in a row, an accomplishment that will give him a brand new (yet still cheap) car and a promotion to management. If Zack wants to gain the attention of Amy he's got to beat Vince, a man who refuses to lose.

Acting wise no one impressed me, and that of course was no surprise. I had never heard of Dane Cook prior to this film except in scattered rumors of his off-screen romance with co-star Jessica Simpson, of course at that time Simpson was rumored to be in a romance with about everyone. Cook doesn't do a bad job but I would hate to see him in any other type of film because he's only mediocre here. Surprisingly, Jessica Simpson was actually bearable, and even more surprising I actually liked her. She's able to turn the ditzy blonde retard act off and therefore not be so incredibly annoying, plus there's no denying she's hot. Dax Shepard, who played Zack's rival in the film, was a little annoying but at the same time convincing, again no real talent, but for this type of film no talent is required. The most annoying characters were played by Andy Dick and Harland Williams another group of actors I cannot stand in general and couldn't stand here.

What I liked most about the film is it was slightly unique; while the underlining plot may be frequently recycled the setting is quite original. Super Club, which is basically making fun of bulk stores like Sam's Club and Costco, was very entertaining and humorous and lent itself to some ironic sense of reality in that I could actually see the stories antics occurring in real life at these types of stores. Like going around the store intentionally damaging goods so the employee can get them for free!

Overall, Employee of the Month is an average attempt at a comedy. The writers had a fairly good idea here and were able to present it in a way that was both unique and entertaining. Some of the innuendos got quite annoying after the 20th time, but there is quite a bit of very funny physical humor that makes up for some to the repetitious jokes. In the end, while it's nothing special Employee of the Month is definitely worth a watch and even manages to be worth revisiting every once in a while.

6/10