L'employé du mois

Keep watching this over and over. Dax Shepard was the real star of this movie.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this movie was way better then I expected. Some of the humor is a little subtle for what you might expect. One scene I liked was toward the end when the box boy gang is coming down the main aisle with Zack next to the Andy Dick character who can barely see thru his coke bottle glasses. Dick starts veering off to the side and Zack puts his arm out and pulls him back and they continue on as if realigning someones walk is a normal event. The movie isn't intended to reinvent Shakespeare but some of the harsher reviewers seem to judge it in that light. I thought Jessica Simpson was a good choice for her part. Any lack of acting ability fit the part just fine and works. It was a pleasant and funny movie to watch and never resorted to throwing in four letter words just to do it like so many movies will do.

I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I laughed at several witty lines, especially one where Zach corrected Vince's grammar, but Vince didn't get it. Even Jessica Simpson didn't bother me because they didn't try to inflate her intelligence; they just made her a rather bland character.

The plot isn't original, but watching Vince pretend he was Tom Cruise from Cocktail made me laugh. When I watch this sort of movie I want to laugh and I did just that. Dane Cook was a pleasant surprise too. I had never seen anything with him. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie even though I didn't think that I would.

On face value, 'Employee of the Month' looks pretty bad and after seeing it, it's not that great of a movie by any means but it isn't as terrible as it looked. It doesn't have anything new to offer but some of the jokes work well and the sequences with Cook and Shepard competing against each other do make one chuckle. It's certainly forgettable but can be enjoyed in parts (for a one time watch). The actors playing Zack's friends were very annoying especially Andy Dick. It doesn't help that they're given terrible lines. Zack's grandma is the funniest character. Dane Cook is quite likable as the competing employee but it is Dax Shepard who steals the show as the obnoxious arrogant employee of the month who takes an awful lot of pride in himself. Jessica Simpson's role doesn't require much except for her to look good. She seems to compensate for any shortcomings by giving the viewer more than a glimpse of cleavage...on multiple occasions throughout the film. Tim Bagley is funny as the boss. Overall, it's a silly film that doesn't require more than a one time watch.

Zack is content with his job as a box boy at the Super Club supermarket, seeing the days through with the minimum of fuss and effort. The fact that cashier Vince is the exact opposite only confirms the daily choice that Zack makes not to care. However when a new employee starts in the very shapely form of Amy, Zack finds a reason to change his ways. Amy has a reputation for finding ambition attractive, so employee of the month and assistant manager nominee Vince is in with the best shot. Zack decides to win the employee of the month competition instead of Vince, getting the kudos and the girl – but at what price? You can see the potential here for great comedy. The story of the title is really just there to create a frame for a workplace comedy that one would hope learns lessons from Office Space and The Office in really getting down to the reality to find the jokes. Sadly it never really does this but the results are not terrible – just basic. The plot is quite obvious but mainly stays out of the way by being a frame for the action. The relationship stuff involving Amy doesn't offer much for the amount of time that it goes on for but mostly it does free up space for the workplace joking. Problem is that it is not as strong as one would have hoped and much of it is at quite a basic level and doesn't have much in the way of inspiration. It still is quite funny at times and it made for a very easy watch but if you are hoping for more than that then the film will disappoint.

The cast are solid but not up to the task of lifting it. Both Cook and Shepard are good enough to do the minimum requirements but not good enough to really deliver something special. The support cast pretty much matches this approach by having a "thing" about their characters that allows one gag but not having anything more. The end result is a basic film that never really excels itself in any regard. It does do the basics well enough to make for very easy amusement for the undemanding viewer but nothing more than that.