Camden movies/cinema-review of the Shaun Ellis film Cashback-the British sex comedy

Publications by New Journal Enterprises

Home

Archive

Competition

The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published: 8 May 2008

Sean Biggerstaff as Ben the all-night supermarket shelf stacker

Camden cinema | Cashback movie review | Shaun Ellis | British sex comedy

CASHBACK
Directed by Shaun Ellis
Certificate 15

This all-British sex comedy started life as an 18-minute short feature centred on the aspirations of a day-dreaming teenager, but received such acclaim at international film festivals (seven awards) that writer-director Shaun Ellis has expanded it into a full-blown, 88-minute mainstream movie.
He set himself the target of writing the new script in seven days.
While admiring his self-confidence, I’m afraid to say it shows.
Tousled-headed art student Ben (Sean Biggerstaff) finds himself incarcerated among “two hundred hormone-crazed students”, which cramps his style in pursuit of the fair sex. We find him first being dumped by his girlfriend (Michelle Ryan), because he won’t make a commitment.
Suffering from insomnia, he takes on a brain-dead job stacking shelves in an all-night Sainsbury’s supermarket, where he falls for the check-out girl, Sharon (Emilia Fox), a blonde with bee-sting lips and a vacant expression. But they make each other laugh, and are obviously destined for a future together.
Ben finds he has another talent: he can make time stop, and in his own surreal world move through frozen figures in the aisles like a ghost, making him even more of an outsider in the real world.
How much is fact and how much his own fantasy is something we are supposed to work out for ourselves – but I’ll certainly be giving Sainsbury’s a once-over before going in after midnight.
An enthusiastic cast paper over the cracks, doing their best to disguise an egg-shell thin storyline and a budget to match. I wish them luck, because I fear they’ll need it.

Comment on this article.
(You must supply your full name and email address for your comment to be published)

Name:

Email:

Comment:

» Film Times
» Film Reviews
» Buy DVDs
» Rent DVDs