Employee of the Month - review

Employee of the Month (12a)
Dir. Greg Coolidge

Reviewed by Matt Adcock

My name is Zack, I work for Super Club – a low cost, bulk buying Costco alike emporium where buying less than 10 of anything is for wimps… It is my sworn ambition to win the heart of super hot new checkout girl Amy but she only has eyes for those elite workers, those ‘best of the best’ who rise above mere mortals to become ‘employee of the month’. This is my story, it is a tale of pain, of suffering but most of all is it a tale of slacking – because that’s what I do best.
Employee of the Month is the perfect film for anyone who has ever had to suffer a duff job. It lifts the lid on the unsavoury rivalry that competitive bonus induced reward structures can generate and most of all it puts a big smile on your face whether you want it to or not.
Made in the noble tradition of lowbrow slacker comedies (the pinnacle of which is still Clerks), Employee of the Month was much funnier than I expected. There were points when it almost even served as regression therapy – helping me deal with the psychological disorder that I’ve always attributed back to my time as a warehouse stock picker for Argos. “Arrgghhh, no please, I don’t want to go on the refund till again!!” – Hhhmm sorry about that.
Anyway, the movie sees box-boy hero Zack (Dane ’Saturday Night Live’ Cook) battling against the uber cashier Vince (Dax Shepard) for the love of sexpot Amy (Jessica Simpson). One of them will walk away ‘Employee of the Month’, get the girl and enjoy the spoils of battle, the other will be humiliated – and that’s the whole plot.
It’s deliberately offensive, with jokes about short sightedness, age, height, colour of skin and sexuality, it’s also very sexist with Simpson required to do nothing but turn up smile and jiggle her talents in various low cut tops. Despite all is it somehow manages to stay good natured enough to enjoy and is without doubt the funniest film of the year (so far) – this being only the second week of 2007.
January is often a graveyard month for films, so it is nice to have something almost worth watching land on our screens so quickly. Having said that, I’ve also a good feeling about what looks like being a stylish action packed overdose of carnage in Joe Carnahan's Smokin’ Aces- next week’s review...

Darkmatters rating system (out of 5):

Action öö - enough (never thought I'd be tense during an against the clock checkout battle)
Laughs ööö – more than expected
Horror öö – risk of duff job 'flashbacks'
Babes ööö – Simpson is a blonde hottie

Overall ööö (no classic but half decent fun)


"Simpson trying to remember her lines for Employee of the Month?"

Links:

The Guardian Review (also 3 star rating)

Moviefreak.com Review (2 out of 4 stars)

My review of Simpson's last film - The Dukes of Hazzard

My review of a slacker film you might not have seen 'Bums'

Darkmatters: H O M E