Employee of the Month Essay

Zack Bradley, a box boy at Super Club, a Price Club/Costco/Sams Club type barge in. Hes more than content with his life as a box boy. He lives with his grandmother, hangs out with his buddies in their homemade lounge in the center of the stores shopping racks, trades away dented goods, and gets along with safe about everyone. In fact, theres only one person Zack cant take care to get along with lead cashier Vince Downey (Dax Shepard), the epitome of retail world brown nosing.Vince has been employee of the month at Super Club for s planeteen months straight and harming the eighteenth time means loose prizes (including a newish Chevy Malibu) and a promotion. Usually that title wouldnt mean anything to a slacker like Zack, only if when the new hot cashier Amy (Jessica Simpson) appears on the scene with rumors that she goes for employee of the month, Zack decides to give Vince some competition. This is, at its heart, an underdog film, which I almost always enjoy to some degree. Zac k is constantly trod upon by Vinces overwhelmingly good luck.Even when Zack and his friends try to get the best of the big suck up, something good happens for the egotistical wonder that allows him to come out ahead. Its a real testament to the power of positive thinking once you learn that Vince sees his job as a big success (why come up a mountain when you can win the land race? he asks) while Zack knows his job sucks but took it as a way not to injure anyone after a business failure cost his grandmother her retirement savings Vince thinks well so he does well, Zack doesnt.But really its a way of making the audience really want Vince to get his comeuppance, and feel a great sense of satisfaction once he begins to. With a fuddle comprised of stand-up comedians, singer turned actors, and former Ashton Kutcher Punkd assistants one doesnt exactly expect Oscar caliber acting from Employee of the Month, however the performances arent monstrous either. Dane Cook acts as a subdued Ry an Reynolds which is exactly what this role needs. Reynolds normal antics would be too much for the tempo of this movie.Jessica Simpson only has the demand of being spellbinding and an object of desire a role she fills perfectly, although a few of her lines are still wince-worthy. Dax Shepherd is a bit over the top in the villain role, but it works. The true standout performances come from the supporting comedic roles, filled with actors like Andy Dick, Harland Williams, Brian George, Tim Bagley, and Napoleon Dynamites Pedro, Efren Ramirez. With a cast able to capture laughs in just about every direction, the film keeps the audience snickering, if not making them laugh a little louder.Indeed, Employee accomplishes more chuckles with a little subtlety than with its attempts at the big laughs, although there are more than a few of those. Observant audience members will notice just how much the employees of Super Club abuse the stores merchandise, from using broken products as bargai ning chips to having gallon buckets of ice cream and massive bags of chips in their homes. People willing to consider the movie even further will find hilarity in the way the employees of Super Club treat their retail jobs so seriously, as if cleaning up that shed or the speed of a cashiers pass-through rate really matters.Dane Cook and Dax Shepard may not offer the best underdog comedy this year, and the movie for certain doesnt stand up to Wedding Crashers (which shared the same producers as the advertisements are more than happy to remind everyone) but its still an enjoyable, laughable little comedy. Consider it along the same guilty pleasure lines as Jingle All the Way or Dodgeball or a more beauty friendly version of that Steve Carell comedy. Its good for lighthearted fun, just dont expect any life changing experience watching both store clerks competing for the grand title of Employee of the Month.