Review of Employee of the Month (2006) by Markb. — 14 Nov 2006

Lionsgate Films is definitely falling into some familiar patterns. Every spring they give us a soap opera/ melodrama/ comedy/ drag show from quintuple-hyphenate Tyler Perry, every late October they bring us a Saw sequel, and every early October we get a working-stiff slob comedy with aspirations (or pretensions) to social satire.

Last year's entry, Waiting... revealed the untold story of what those Applebees and TGIF waiters are putting in your food when you're not looking; it was surprisingly quite consistently funny and even occasionally thought-provoking.

This year's would-be equivalent, Employee of the Month, dealing with the cashiers, salespeople and other clockpunching personnel at a Costco-type warehouse market, is less accomplished, but it'll do.

It chronicles the rivalry between two Super Club employees for the titular title: snooty preppie Vince (Dax Sheppard) has won it for 17 consecutive months, and an 18th win would get him a beautiful new car.

..but slacker Zack (Dane Cook) suddenly decides he wants the honor because a comely new hire (Jessica Simpson) will supposedly only sleep with EOTM winners. (Of course, some may very understandably ask the question of why, since Vince has worked so long and so hard to get the car, shouldn't he rightfully go all the way and why shouldn't we root for him to do it, regardless of his personality flaws? Relax.

..the movie DOES address this issue, although none too convincingly.) The movie itself appears to be in some kind of competition with 2004's Dodgeball: A True Underdog story to see which of the two can cram in the greatest number of puns and double entendres involving some form, derivative or compound of the word "balls", but the moviemakers DO deserve credit for loading the last half hour with more plot twists, climaxes and reversals than you'd get from an average suspense thriller.

Some of the performances help, too: Cook is a generic comic leading man in the Tim Matheson mold, but Sheppard's effete superciliousness frequently reminded me of how boring the TV game show Hollywood Squares got after they fired Paul Lynde.

And I never thought I'd be making this statement with a straight face, but here it is: Jessica Simpson is even better here than she was in Dukes of Hazzard! ((She admittedly doesn't do much more than smile pretty for the camera, but that goes a long way in smoothing over her character's apparent contradictions.

) And even though Employee of the Month ultimately scores more points on the silly side of the board than the funny one, I must admit, having never worked in a big box store (or ANY convenience store or supermarket) that I learned quite a bit.