Checkout

I had the pleasure of seeing this little independent comedy at a recent film festival in Southern California and found it captivating.

The two leads are charming, talented and worthy of further exposure in films. In fact, while Burt Young (ROCKY 1-4) was the only familiar face in the cast, I thought the other performers were uniformly good in their roles, which is rare in a low-budget independent film, where often friends and family are pressed into service. Clearly, this was a cast of professionals and they served the film well.

The premise was something unique and I always respond to originality when I see it in films. A likeable man-child, still pining for his lost love and looking for his place in the world, starts a dating service in the family-owned supermarket where he works. There are numerous funny sequences involving how people are put together in this highly unusual context. A subplot involving a threat to bulldoze the market for a parking lot, while not as engaging, still works well as a counterpoint to the dating service aspect of the story.

Director/cinematographer Mark Foggetti gives a thoroughly pro look to his film. Low budget movies usually look like it, owing to poor production values, underlit scenes and amateur level acting. CHECKOUT has none of these faults and indeed, looks like a studio-produced feature.

If you're looking for an evening of light entertainment, you could do much worse than CHECKOUT.

I can only say wonderful things about this film! When a local supermarket worker, Nick, who has been a hard worker for years looses his promotion to his ex-fiancé who suddenly blows into town,his love for her and anger for stealing his job make a wonderful cliché. I don't want to give anything away, so I will just say this: From the first scene to the last it is non stop enjoyment! Burt Young is the highlight of this film and it will appeal to people of all ages! I have this on DVD and think so should everyone else! So when you go to a video store, why not check out CheckOut? You will not be disappointed! The supporting cast, however not as famous as Burt Young, also bring this film together to make it become an instant classic.

I found CHECKOUT to be a well-produced, visually engaging and fun film. The story is simple and sweet... a young man starts a dating service in his employer's grocery store. As the plot unfolds, he gets caught in some sticky situations, he learns about the value of love and honesty, and realizes the value of true friendship. Our hero, Jack comes of age in this film and eventually wins back the love and respect of his ex-girlfriend. Together, they save the grocery store (her father's business) and we hope live happily ever after. It's not a complex story but one that this movie-goer loves to see told over and over again. Give me an uncomplicated romantic comedy any day of the week. CHECKOUT made me smile, made me laugh and more importantly entertained me.

Being a Rochester native makes me especially interested in this film and its path. I was delighted to learn it took 2ND Place in the Valley Film Festival in Los Angeles. I hope it continues to draw positive attention in other film festivals and I'd love to see it be distributed nationally. Kudos to Mark Fogetti, the cast and crew for creating a film with heart and soul. BRAVO!

I would have liked to see more reference in the credits to Mark Daniel Leitner, who is the editor and listed as editor. However he was also up-writer, production manager and wore a few other hats to make this project the best it could be. Just Sayin. Now that's all I have to mention, however this stupid review box requires 10 lines! That's stupid of IMDb to do that. So I'll paste lines from another review to make up the difference. Your review does not contain enough lines - the minimum length for reviews is 10 lines of text. Please see the guidelines. Attempts to pad the comment with junk words can result in your account being blocked from future submissions.

I went in to this movie thinking it was going to be the next Clerks, but left feeling let down. The humor was weak and the characters fairly flat. That isn't to say it was all bad, the idea of the dating service in the grocery store seemed like pretty fertile material, but the director switched focus to the cliche'd "save the Mom-and-Pop store from the evil corporation guy". I felt like if he would have just stuck with the dating service plot, he would have come out with a much more memorable movie. Now, to do the film justice, I am from the Rochester area and loved the way he portrayed Webster. In fact, the best Kevin Smith (of Clerks) homage here was giving props to his hometown. Webster, NY is to Checkout what Red Bank, NJ is to Clerks. The director wisely threw in a date at Nick Tahou's. Trust me, as far as things to do in Rochester, a garbage plate is at the top of the list. I was lucky enough to see this film at the Little in Rochester so everybody knew when the odes to the town came up and appreciated them.