Review of Employee of the Month (2006) by Stuart K — 11 Jan 2011

In life, as it is in movies, its clear that impressing hot chicks is the thing that men just have to do. Whether it's a matter of ego or testosterone or dick size is irrelevant, men do this. And some women like it. Regardless of the implications of this, it is not something that will end in a marriage or declaration of love. And it certainly doesn't make for a decent movie plot.

It is this bizarre act of "manhood" that sets the basis for Employee of the Month. Employees at a bulk retail store (cash and carry to us Brits) fight for the right to be named Employee of the Month. Zack Bradley (Dane Cook), early 20's slacker and all round lazy arse is content with working at the store to make ends meet and pay his rent. HE couldn't care less about the perks of the job or anything other then clocking in and out. Then (wait for it), new girl Amy (Jessica Simpson) all round hottie starts working as a cashier and suddenly his outlook on life changes. You see, Amy only dates Employee of the Month...yes, this is actually a film plot.

Now, lets be serious for a minute here. IF you met a girl who only dated the Employee of the Month, you would have to evaluate her shallow mindedness...if she wanted to date someone who was successful, maybe she should go and date a celebrity or a footballer or something. But in filmland this is not the case. Zack does everything in his mind to BE Employee of the Month in order to...you can see where this is going.

Give credit to Dane Cook. Stand up comedians in film are generally a no no (see Lee Evans) but Cook gives it a decent stab. Maybe the character speaks to his onetime youth, who knows. Cook manages to pull out a convincing (just) performance. Yet everyone around him merits no recognition. Dax Shephard as his rival Employee of the Month contender is concieted and one dimensional and his workmates are all ciphers. Jessica Simpson at times looks as if she is reading off an autocue. In fact she looks plain bored.

It's this lack of committment that lets the film down. In all honesty with a few tweaks in casting and script, the film could have been funny. It has a few laughable moments but nothing that is worth sitting through the entire running time for. A lot of American comedies come and go these days and Employee of the Month is one of those. It's a shame because it could have been so much better.