Cashback

Sean Ellis’s feature debut is a likeable, if rather familiar, account of post-adolescent angst that belongs to the “whimsical” school of independent film-making with its roster of diffident anti-heroes and off-beat characters. In this British variant it's all about art school romance, soccer and working at Sainsbury's.

The film is a reworking of Ellis’s Oscar-nominated 20 minute short of the same title (most of which is included here as the nude supermarket scenes) and tells the story of Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) who has just broken up with his girlfriend, Suzy (Michelle Ryan). In an attempt to get beyond his misery he gets a job on the nightshift at Sainsbury’s where he meets a couple of likely lads (Michael Dixon and Michael Lambourne), the typically deluded store-manager (Stuart Goodwin) and sweet checkout girl, Sharon (Emilia Fox). The film, as much as it is embellished by Ben’s metaphysical ability to freeze time is essentially about male sexuality and sexual desire. Some may find the disrobing of women in the supermarket a tad offensive, or at least not as interesting as Ellis found it, still, one could argue, that it's guilelessly done and it is at least true to the perspective of the hero/director. The idiosyncratic, when done with a lightly intelligent touch and an ironic sense of humour is exactly the quality that carries these kinds of films and Cashback has enough of it to make it a fair addition to the catalogue.

DVD Extras: Audio Commentary by the director with Sean Biggerstaff; Deleted Scenes; Making-of featurette; Original theatrical trailer.

Available from: Madman

 

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