Cashback
When work's a bore - turn on your imagination...
When art student Ben Willis is dumped by his girlfriend Suzy, he develops insomnia. To pass the long hours of the night, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own 'art' in dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben's art is that he imagines himself stopping time. This way, he can appreciate the artistic beauty of the frozen world and the people inside it - especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl, who perhaps holds the answer to solving the problem of Ben's insomnia.
Member Reviews
Cute. - KeithTalent
An odd little film about a young guy in university, in the UK, who goes through a break-up in the very beginning, goes through a bout of insomnia and ends up getting a job at a supermarket. I kind of liked this. One of those quirky, indie kind of films and what can I say, I'm sort of a sucker for them. There was a weird wrinkle where the main character freezes time in his mind that I was not a huge fan of, though it did allow for some beautiful naked women to get into the film. I thought the main relationship was very interesting and genuine, so was happy to go along for the ride.beautiful film - pomplemousse
I saw this movie with my boyfriend as a compromise because he was drawn to the naked girl on the poster. I was glad we saw it because it's become one of my favorite movies. Full of quotable lines, and not without a few laughs, this movie is stunning. A great date night movie!Original and Refreshing - JAZA
This is one of those films that was never shown in any of the dozen theaters in my area, that no one in my entourage has ever heard of and came under my radar purely by chance. And I have to say I love chance. A lot.
"Cashback" follows brokenhearted college student Ben Willis as he journeys through a supermarket's night shift job to get something out of his prolonged bout of insomnia. Surrounded by spectacularly braindead co-workers and a narrow-visioned best friend, Ben tries to relieve his suffering with his uniquely artistic imagination, and the help of the only co-worker capable of putting him back to sleep.
The film started out as a short, whose Oscar nomination gave author Sean Ellis a template to expand - the short is incorporated "as is" inside the feature. Ellis displays every bit of passion from a burgeoning filmmaker who can finally unleash every concept and idea stored in his mind for years. The result is somewhat flawed and clearly uneven, but injected with an absolutely breathtaking innocence and an unmistakable talent. Young Sean Biggerstaff, known to most as Harry Potter's Oliver Wood, displays a very refreshing yet contained charisma that signals the coming of a future star. The rest of the cast, mostly (and to great effect) unknowns never seem to feel out of place, each chewing their every scene with great fun and gusto. And the lovely Emilia Fox continues to make me wonder why she isn't a much better known actress.
I give Ellis and his film only 3.5 starts out of 5, because I know he has barely touched the tip of his talent and can bring us much greater pieces of filmmaking with a little kick in the arse. Until it happens, though, I'll keep enjoying his debut for what it is - a surprisingly sweet and original film.
Member Reviews
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Cute. - KeithTalent
An odd little film about a young guy in university, in the UK, who goes through a break-up in the very beginning, goes through a bout of insomnia and ends up getting a job at a supermarket. I kind of liked this. One of those quirky, indie kind of films and ...beautiful film - pomplemousse
I saw this movie with my boyfriend as a compromise because he was drawn to the naked girl on the poster. I was glad we saw it because it's become one of my favorite movies. Full of quotable lines, and not without a few laughs, this movie is stunning. A great ...Original and Refreshing - JAZA
This is one of those films that was never shown in any of the dozen theaters in my area, that no one in my entourage has ever heard of and came under my radar purely by chance. And I have to say I love chance. A lot.
"Cashback" follows brokenhearted ...