Cook works hard for new movie

By Lucian Tucker
Collegian Editor
October 18, 2006

Employee of the Month is your average comedy movie, except it stars one of the funniest stand-up comedians in recent years, Dane Cook. The movie takes place at Super Club, a store reminiscent of Sam’s Club, where everything is in bulk and almost anything can be found. Within Super Club is a workforce that is like a universe of its own. Broken candy bars are used as currency and cashiers are at the top of the food chain. At the lower end of the spectrum is Zack Bradley (Cook), a box boy who slacks off at every chance.

Opposite of Zack is the cocky and competitive Vince Downey (Dax Shepard), head cashier and 17-time “Employee of the Month” winner. Vince is that guy at work that puts in an above-and-beyond effort no one but the store manager cares about. One more month and Vince will be the first person to win “Employee of the Month” 18 times in a row.

One day Amy (Jessica Simpson) walks in and the ecosystem of Super Club goes out of whack. Zack takes a liking to Amy, but apparently she only dates Employees of the Month. The rest of the movie is pretty obvious.

The jokes are numerous and mostly funny — nothing special. There are fat, homosexual and racist jokes, along with some physical comedy.

The acting was beyond what I expected. While Cook and Shepard were amusing, I laughed mostly at the supporting actors. Zack’s odd entourage includes Russell (Harland Williams) and Lon (Andy Dick). Russell is a box boy who constantly rambles like only Williams can. Lon is an eye doctor who has poor vision himself. His blind jokes only stay fresh for so long, though.

Vince’s sidekick, Jorge (Efren Ramirez), was funnier than Zack’s friends. Jorge cosigned and worshiped Vince in a way that almost makes people think he’s gay. The chemistry between Shepard and Ramirez easily surpassed Cook and Simpson’s.

Speaking of Simpson, she played the hot, busty, dumb, blonde love interest of Zack and Vince, and she played it well. Little acting was needed, which is a good thing. To her credit, though, she was able to not make the movie less enjoyable during her five minutes of dialogue.

Employee of the Month was surprisingly funny and pretty easily exceeded my low expectations. It reminded me of Office Space, where the film’s setting is an ordinary workplace and the jokes are funny because people who work similar jobs can relate to them.

Fans can definitely count on Cook delivering some great laughs. What moviegoers shouldn’t expect, however, is the humor he brings to a stage when he does stand-up comedy. Give him some time, though. I suspect he will only get better with each movie.

tuckerl1@lasalle.edu