2K Replay: EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

 by Adam Riske

Nominated for “Choice Movie Actress: Comedy” (Jessica Simpson) at the Teen Choice Awards. She lost to Sophia Bush in John Tucker Must Die.

• Best Scene/Moment: Any interaction between Dax Shepard and Efren Ramirez. They’re an underrated comedy team. “They should’ve been the next Farley and Spade.” – Adam Riske, F This Movie!

• Best Song: “Working in the Coal Mine” by Devo.

• Best Merch: A “Sean Whalen SIGNED Employee of the Month 8x10…” for $44.99. I like Sean Whalen (who I remember most from The People Under the Stairs) and he’s pretty funny in Employee of the Month, so why not get his autograph? This is a cool 8x10 with film strips on the top and bottom. I bet someone put those there with the exact purpose of another person looking at it and thinking “This is a cool 8x10 with film strips on the top and bottom.”

• Director Grade: Employee of the Month was directed by Greg Coolidge.
Great Movies: N/A
Good Movies: Employee of the Month
OK Movies: N/A
Bad Movies: N/A
Unseen By Me: The Turkey Bowl
Overall Grade: B+

• Double It with This 2006 Movie: Accepted

• Year 2006 Movies to Trailer Before Them: Clerks II, Grandma’s Boy, Idiocracy

• Ella McCay or Employee of the Month? Employee of the Month

• Mall Movie? 1000 percent. Workplace retail comedies couldn’t play anywhere else.

• Only in 2006: A movie led by Dane Cook-Jessica Simpson-Dax Shepard grossing $11.4M domestic during its opening weekend.

• Scene Stealer: Efren Ramirez.

• I Miss: Dane Cook popping up in movies. I know I know but hear me out…this, Dan in Real Life, and Mr. Brooks are all kinda good.

• I Don’t Miss: Jessica Simpson popping up in movies. She seems nice and she was funny as herself on Newlyweds (which I watched every episode of), but she is at sea playing a character. Not that her character in Employee of the Month is particularly deep, but still.

• 2006 Crush: Jessica Simpson.

• 2026 Crush: Comedy movies where the slacker knows all the angles.

• What I Thought in 2006: I went in expecting beyond nothing and came out being entertained and laughing a few times. I remember seeing Employee of the Month back-to-back with The Departed (which I saw second) and that’s the exact correct order and a perfect day at the movies.

• What I Think in 2026: G-D help me. I really like Employee of the Month. I watched it under the influence once (and talked about it on a Friday Night Double Features podcast episode with Patrick) and it really clicked for me. This time I watched it battling a cold on Dayquil and it was just as good if not better. It’s inexplicably 108 minutes long and it could have been longer. Not one of the best movies of 2006, but one of my favorites. It’s just a good hang.