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Cashback is instantly frustrating, as it's not readily apparent where the movie is going or even what it's about. We're introduced to Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff), an art student going through the throes of a breakup with his girlfriend Suzy (Michelle Ryan). Crushed, Ben tries to get back together with her, then finally decides to move on with his life, giving up sleep altogether and getting a night job at Sainsbury's, a British supermarket. Here he meets a Clerks-like cast of slackers and a boss (Stuart Goodwin) with an amazingly inflated ego. Eventually it's here that he finds his new muse, Sharon (Emilia Fox), whom he spends countless hours drawing and re-drawing. The story is punctuated with flashbacks to Ben's childhood, establishing his neuroses and explaining his troubles with women aptly. Somehow, Ellis manages to combine a Gen-X slacker film with a touching coming-of-age movie... and it works.
What makes Cashback truly unique is Ben's oddball talent of being able to stop time. It's not completely literal: Ben's power exists somewhere between metaphor and reality, and it's mainly a method for him to reflect on bad decisions and, in one memorable scene, practice his nude drawing skills by undressing all the women in the market during one of his time stoppages and redressing them before starting time up again. It's a little maddening to try to figure out exactly how this ability works, and you'll go crazy trying to figure it all out. It's best to leave it as a quirk and instead spend your time marvelling how Ellis achieved such a phenomenal effect. The Matrix's bullet time has nothing on this. Ellis somehow puts Ben into a fully interactive, three-dimensional world on pause, complete with snowflakes frozen in space. I'm at a total loss as to how he did it, and it's one of the coolest effects I've seen in years.
Ellis isn't all flash, though. He coaxes amazing performances from a cast of complete unknowns, from the shuffling Biggerstaff, instantly a downtrodden hero, to his larger-than-life cohorts at the shop. Some of these guys may play a bit to stereotype, but Ellis's knack for original and hysterical set pieces overcomes any familiarity you might otherwise notice. The dialogue is crisp, and the film never flags, packing in a subtly reflective story into 98 minutes.
Give the sweet, funny, and thoughtful Cashback a chance. You won't regret it.
The DVD includes a making-of featurette and the aforementioned short film, most of which has been folded into the feature.
