Cashback

A guy and his girl break up. Painfully. As a result of this the guy becomes an insomniac and suddenly finds himself with 8 more hours in the day. 8 more hours in which he feels the pain of love gone sour. 8 more hours to be bored and restless. He decides to make the best of it and starts working the night shift in a supermarket where he is met with a new kind of boredom and several people that deal with that boredom in different ways. Himself adding yet another way of dealing with that boredom. He imagines he can stop time. What follows is best seen instead of read about.

This film is filled to the rim with the most beautiful stills, completed with several speeds of motion and feels right. Right in an artistically way. It is like watching a painting being painted,, like watching a poem being written, like listening to a song being composed. And at the end it all adds up and the completed picture is seen in all its beauty. All in all a really nicely designed film that belongs in the small theaters and in the art-houses.

Next to that it is fun to watch. The adventures of the guy are interesting to follow, even though they aren't all that different from what most people go through at one or other stage of life. Music choice was very fitting and acting was good enough not to be falling out of place with the rest. So, all in all, a very pleasurable watch and something I can recommend to anyone.

9 out of 10 sketches sketched

Even though British cinematography is closer to Hollywood than any other (European) one, here's a fine example how a clever narration and fantastic cinematography can make all the difference (between this movie and some average rom-com - "Down to You" and "She's All That" first come to mind). Since "Playing by Heart" thought us that "Talking about love is like dancing about architecture." this movie tries to add an extensive visual layer to the story and it does it rather successfully. Some might find this movie to be pretentious and full of "shallow philosophizing" and "excessive nudity", but these are absurd statements. The thing that comes across is that this movie never takes itself too seriously and this is it's strong point. You are there to watch and enjoy and if you pick up something "meaningful" out of the entire babbling of the main character, good for you. If not, you'll still be happy just for all the eye candy presented to you. A win-win. And that's always good in my book.

Well written, well acted, well shot, interesting plot, thoughtful, and several beautiful women in various stages of dress; what more could a man want from a serious film.

I enjoyed this film overall about a coming of age. There were enough laughs to call this a comedy, but it was more than just that. I found Ben's "powers" to be interesting without suspending too much reality. I thought that the acting by Sean Biggerstaff to be very good. Nice to see him stepping out of Harry Potter and do well. The cast was very solid.

Overall, a good solid B- for this flick.

This is a small and simple film that has nothing simple and therefore results in nothing small. In fact, films like these show how some supposed delicacies produced by big studios can be put to shame by simple dishes by lesser-known authors who present us with delicious proposals made only with fine quality ingredients.

Everything in this movie results in. A script that is developed from a banal starting point, but which is treated in an original and emotionally elaborate way; an impeccable performance by the entire cast, which builds a gallery of characters that both provoke the most spontaneous laughter and moments of the deepest honest reflection; a cinematography sometimes just elegant, sometimes totally breathtaking; an extremely versatile and relevant soundtrack.

This is a film that comes out of a minor league, but that will not be considered as beeing at that level by anyone watches it.

How many can stare at some spilled peas on the floor and find beauty. With this film, you may never look at still life the same again.

How do you fill the time that is flying by. We may not have the ability to freeze it and just enjoy the beauty of nature, but maybe we can spend some more of it appreciating life's beauty.

The cinematography and music really captivated me and set the mood long before the ingenious freezing sequence. It made the nudity something to be appreciated and enjoyed, not some cheesy titillation.

Ben (Sean Biggerstaff) is creating this world after breaking up with his girl (Michelle Ryan). There are a lot of laughs in the film with other supermarket employees, who are really interesting characters. There are flashbacks to Ben's childhood that provide other very interesting moments. Hayley-Marie Coppin, for one. But, it is not until Ben and Sharon (Emilia Fox) start seeing each other that his life starts to get back to normal.

Everything is not all smooth from then on out, and we get to see the same scene with Sharon that we saw with Suzy in the beginning. It was very original. It is what happens in life when we see one second of a two-second story.

But, the moment when Sharon walks into the Proud Gallery was just precious, and you knew things would work out.

A magical ending to a great film by Sean Ellis leaves us wanting MORE!