TIFF Report: CASHBACK Review

Posted by Kurt Halfyard at 1:29pm.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, UK, Ireland, Australia & New Zealand, Toronto Film Festival 2006.

Put on your raincoats ladies and gentlemen, because I am about to gush very, very hard for Cashback. This British romantic dramedy focuses on the same early 20s transition from school to ‘real life’ as Kevin Smith’s original Clerks or Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff’s Ghost World. What makes this one stand out with those films is how it treats the subject with a visual wit as accomplished as modern visual stylists Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Danny Boyle and David Fincher. The resulting film is the pitch perfect blend of high and low culture (Don Carlos to Coldplay if you will) to yield a feel-good film which earns its romantic elements. It is a rare film which chooses not to angrily condemn plastic suburban culture in the western world, but look hard and find small beautiful things amongst the banal. There is a detached joy at work in the film which slowly sheds the former and finds the latter. It is a hopeful movie for those looking to find their way in life, even as it simultaneously exists as a wish fulfillment fantasy. Director Sean Ellis loves to celebrate things as even more beautiful when there is a flaw or two.

The film opens with a close-up on a girls face as she angrily breaks up with Art-school freshman Ben. This is done is slow motion, her perfect lips fluttering in curse words that Ben explains are a tad hard on his fragile ego. The breakup has such an effect that Ben begins to suffer from massive insomnia and detachment from everyday life. Because he is up all night, he takes a McJob at the local gigantic supermarket to make some money with all of his depressing spare time. Once in this job, he does not engage in the juvenile practical jokes of his co-workers or try to avoid looking at the clock (which makes time move slower). No, his technique of making the endless empty activity of the supermarket job pass by is a strange one. Ben gains the ability to stop time and walk around the store looking at the various patrons, frozen now in ‘still life,’ he draws portraits of the woman he unclothes while frozen. A form of visual and thematic time travel worthy of Chris Marker’s La Jetee, this is where the film is quite magical. The act of unclothing and drawing the (gorgeous: 11 on a scale of 1 to 10) women he unclothes is done simply and maturely. There is very full nudity, but it is more erotic than lusty, and all the more fascinating with the bright fluorescent lights of the supermarket; hundreds of packaged goods in the background. These women are the fashion magazine goddesses, flawless examples of perfection, who are engaged in mundane, not-typically-sexy positions. This sort of natural eroticism ends up being sublimely effective. It was no surprise to find out that the director was a fashion photographer for his day job. Here

Another pursuit Ben has at the supermarket is one of the check-out girls. Sharon is also quite serious compared to the rest of the night shift employees. When her and Ben begin to go on dates (as idealized as they are), the actors carry it off with a very natural rhythm of dialogue. You believe it and have faith that young folks can be so mature in their interaction, and trusting to share their dreams. It is the ultimate romantic film for guys, in the rarefied sphere of Nick Hornsby and Steven Frears’ High Fidelity.

Cashback has a breezy chapter structure, but you sense there is not a wasted frame. The picture was obviously as rigorously planned as the perfect special effects, but it flows effortlessly between vignettes of Bens childhood discoveries of sexuality, to art school classes the supermarket to a hilariously funny footy match between franchises of the chain. The humor is both smart (Bens explanation of the double meaning of the word ‘crush’, and physical, even the visual gags (one involving a suggestively shaped shampoo bottle) work.

It is a heck of a lot better than similar themed Garden State, and the performances from all the actors are sublime. I fully expect Sean Ellis to get some wider notice with this movie. While the film may not aim to find the long dark night of the soul, or address many of the other more complex challenges of that time in many peoples lives, it is in no way pretentious, sappy, or otherwise flawed. As perfect as many of the women in the film, Cashback is a gem waiting to be discovered.

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Reader Comments

Hobbs 09/12/2006 @ 6:34pm

anywhere i can get a trailer of this?

sounds intresting
ijaffery 09/12/2006 @ 7:30pm

I really disliked the short that spawned this film so I have my doubts. Comparing Sean Ellis’ visual sense to that of Jeanut, Boyle and Fincher is the worst kind of exageration. Granted I haven’t seen the film but from what I’ve read elsewhere the feature is very much an extension of the short. So I won’t be going out of my way to see this, but who knows maybe I’ll catch it eventually just out of passing curiosity.
Kurt 09/12/2006 @ 7:43pm

I’ve not seen the short, so we do not have a frame of reference here, but while aesthetic of the film is similar to Danny Boyle (especially Millions) and Fincher (More Panic Room than Seven)...Juenet’s sense of the romantic and the possible are on display here, even if his gallic/gothic look and feel are not. And no, I do not make those comparisons lightly, this film is a marvel.
Carl 09/13/2006 @ 8:53am

Wow, haven’t been keeping up with this project, and very surprised that it’s already screening. . .I loved the original short film, mainly for it’s visuals component and can not wait to see this feature version.
Bob 09/13/2006 @ 12:57pm

Can nobody spell Jeunet correctly?
Nic 09/14/2006 @ 3:48am

Cool review Kurt.

I have seen the short and I thought it was very well done. Everything was well chosen from the casting, to the camera work and the musical score. The nude scenes were a suprising yet beautiful detail.

Does anyone know if the full movie length version will come out in Australia??
ernest james 09/14/2006 @ 5:08am

the team is still talking to distributors - this thing will be global - try to see it at toronto - this is the first public screening worldwide -

and you can view the short on this link

http://www.zed.cbc.ca/go?c=ZedCandidCashback

or you can download from iTunes website -

click on link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewMovie?id=128716749&s=143441
Jackie 09/18/2006 @ 12:19pm

Saw it at Toronto this weekend and I was not dissappointed. Granted I went to see Sean Biggerstaff for the most part but having not seen the short let me see the feature with fresh eyes and I was very impressed. Although some will find the excesssive nudity offensive it is not meant to be objectified in any way, as a woman myself I saw it more as a compliment to the female form. The film was also well received by the rest of the audience I saw it with and from the publicity it has been getting in many of the Toronto papers I imagine that this will at least be getting a limited release in N. America, Europe and Australia, at least in arthouse theatres I would imagine.

SLIGHT SPOILER!

If you get the chance to see it I recommend it, it was a nice foray into a guy’s point of view when he sees a girl that captivates him that she slowly begins to occupy his thoughts rather than those of his ex.
ali veli 03/27/2007 @ 1:05pm

this movie is realy good man thank you
ernie 06/09/2007 @ 10:35am

the 90-minute feature film is now available on Amazon.com

this film is awesome - the best romantic comedy i’ve seen in ages

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