DON'T DISCOUNT IT

ATTENTION, comedy shoppers: The marked-down movie "Employee of the Month" has more laughs than most of the name-brand products.
Channeling some of the wrinkled charisma of Bill Murray in "Stripes," comedian Dane Cook shows leading-man potential in his first star turn, as a superstore boxboy named Zack who has to suffer the taunts of Vince (Dax Shepard), the obnoxious head cashier and 17-time employee of the month.
Cook exudes so much cool, though, that it's a little hard to believe he could be such a failure. "I'm having dinner with the old lady tonight," he tells his pals, then goes home, where he lives with his grandma. His only ride is a clown-size motorcycle.
Shepard, who is like the conniving little brother of Owen and Luke Wilson, is even funnier as the head cashier with bleachy Eminem hair and the "fastest hands in the Southwest." The girls swoon as he whisks their items past the scanner: "Oooh, Lean Pockets!" he exclaims. "Somebody takes care of themselves!" He basks in the stardom that only comes to those who have been issued a pass to the cashiers' lounge.
The two guys are fighting over the new cashier, played by Jessica Simpson. If only every movie character's motivation was so easy to believe. Simpson doesn't do much except look good, but she does that mighty well.
Zack proves that he can show her a romantic evening without leaving the store: "Another box of Merlot?" he says over dinner, before arranging a private screening of "The Princess Bride."
For short stretches, the movie has a touch of surreal "Office Space" brilliance, but it's broadly acted, its characters are thin, and the production values are ragged. Still, it's hard to resist its goofy hostility: "You're like the drummer from REO Speedwagon. Nobody knows who you are."