Coming as a big-budget story masquerading as an indie flick, Magnolia Pictures melodrama Cashback attempts to dupe moviegoers into attendance with one slightly interesting aspect: its protagonist, collegiate artist Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff), takes up a late-night shift at a grocery store and pretends that he can stop time.
But rather than use Ben’s imagination as some portal into the deep recesses of human psyche, director/writer Sean Ellis designs the picture to be nothing more than a trite romantic comedy that uses every caricature common in mainstream teen movies.
Ben, who, after a break-up, develops insomnia that inexplicably leaves him fully functional for all twenty-four hours in every day during a four-week span, acts as the regretful, heart-broken artist. He meets the standard cast of teen-film characters — the slick-haired meathead, the braggadocios chauvinist, the wacky, Napoleon Dynamite-inspired comic relief, the shady, slickster boss, and ultimately, the new object of his desire.
The entire film is predictable, sophomoric, and rife with clichés, but beyond that, Cashback can never seem to decide what type of story it wants to be. Ellis’ creation teeters between overwrought interactions and sequences befitting a light-hearted summer romp.
The comic relief, a martial artist turned mopper, does provide the very few legitimately humorous moments, even though they are nothing more than slapstick. The film’s only other redeeming quality — for those as enthralled by the female form as Ellis and his main character — is the massive incorporation of gratuitous nudity.
Unless you’re in dire need of some big-screen T&A, avoid Cashback at all costs.
– Scott Morrow
Cashback
Director: Sean Ellis
102 minutes, Magnolia Pictures
www.cashbackthemovie.com
Opens 7/20/07 in the United States