Employee Of The Month (Blu-ray)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
The first
rip-off of the overrated 40-Year-Old
Virgin is Greg Coolidge’s Employee
Of The Month (2006) with Dane Cook trying to become the next big comedy
star, playing a sort of clean-up version of the typical goof. He falls for new cashier Amy (Jessica
Simpson) and that should be it, except that she will only date the guy who
holds the title status in the store.
That title is held by Vince (Dax Shepard) who is also highly interested.
Of
course, believing either guy would put forth this much energy for Jessica
Simpson seems pathetic, especially when we never believe she is this other
woman. The result is what feels too
often like a bad TV movie trying to be The
40-Year-Old Virgin. Nobody here is
really very interesting, though this might have had some potential if the humor
in the screenplay co-written by Coolidge, Don Calame and Chris Conroy tried to
be more original and actually funny.
Harlan Williams and Andy Dick even turns up, which makes it seem all the
more desperate.
The 1080p
1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image is lacking some detail, can be harsh, and
has phony colors trying to further imitate the phony colors of the mall
look. Cinematographer Anthony B.
Richmond, A.S.C., B.S.C., tries too hard and/or just was trying to be too
commercial, but he has done masterful work otherwise. The DTS HD 96/24 5.1 mix Lionsgate has been
adding to their Blu-ray releases, but it has limits in the scope of its surrounds
and is partly held back by its dialogue-based approach. Extras include three featurettes, ad-libs,
bloopers, deleted scenes, two audio commentaries (one with Cook, the other with
Coolidge) and goofing around on the set.
- Nicholas Sheffo
