DVD Review: Employee of the Month

Dax Shepard and Dane Cook star in this comedy of two big box store employees warring to be Employee of the Month. Employee of the Month doesn’t exactly plow new comedic ground, but it does offer a few laughs . If you like any of the show’s stars then you might want to give this one a rental on a rainy day.

Employee of the Month doesn’t exactly plow new comedic ground, but it does offer a few laughs . If you like any of the show’s stars then you might want to give this one a rental on a rainy day. Zack (Dane Cook) is the box boy slacker at the Super Club store (think Sam’s Club or Costco). Vince (Dax Shepard) is the checker that lords over the store since he has made “employee of the month” near record times. In fact, one more year and Vince will win a nearly-new car. Zack hangs around the store with his buddies Iqbal (Brian George), Lon (Andy Dick), and Russell (Harland Williams).

Lon, Russell, Zack, and Iqbal

Vince also has a hanger on in the form of Jorge (Efren Ramirez), who basically worships Vince as well as acts as his box boy. Zack’s days of slacking come to an end with the arrival of hot new cashier Amy (Jessica Simpson). According to her personnel file, she left the last Super Club store that she worked at because she was sleeping with the “employee of the month.” Zack decides to stop slacking and actually work hard enough to capture the coveted title. However, in his quest to get the title and the girl he finds that he’s forgetting his friends. Employee of the Month is comedy plot number 425 (goofball guy goes after girl but forsakes his friends). I suppose that this is the first comedy set inside a membership club like Sams or Costco. The cast does what it can with the material but in my opinion nobody really had a chance to shine. Andy Dick and Harland Williams have some good buddy moments, but there really isn’t that much to laugh at. It also feels like that the proceedings go on a little too long at 103 minutes. Isn’t there a rule somewhere about these types of comedies should only be about 90 minutes? Seriously, it does feel like it could’ve been tightened up and shorn of about 15 minutes of material or some different comedy scenarios. Dax Shepard does the usual villainous foil and Dane Cook does “hero guy.” The gents will have some eye candy in the form of Jessica Simpson’s low cut tops. The show does have a few moments, but you’ve seen it done better.

It call comes down to a check-out competition between Zack and Vince

Employee of the Month is presented in two different versions available separately. There’s the fullscreen version and the anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director Greg Coolidge and star Dane Cook. There’s also another commentary with Coolidge going solo. Next are 6 minutes of ad-libs. You can play them all or watch Andy Dick and Harland Williams’ different ad-libs separately. There’s also a 3 minute alternate opening that features John O’Hurley (of Seinfeld and Dancing with the Stars fame). Next is 2 minutes of clips of “Lon at Work.” These appear to be alternate or deleted scenes of Andy Dick’s near blind optician. MySpace had an Employee of the Month contest and two of the winners’ videos are presented here with an introduction by Dane Cook (totaling 1 minute 40 seconds). Finally, there’s some trailers for other Lionsgate releases. Employee of the Month doesn’t exactly plow new comedic ground, but it does offer a few laughs (no nothing new really). If you like any of the show’s stars then you might want to give this one a rental on a rainy day.