review: CASHBACK

Magnolia Pictures  //  Buy from Amazon.com Garnering an Oscar nomination for Best Live Action Short, as well as awarded film festival prizes from Tribeca, Chicago, Lille and Leuven International, among others, the feature length version of Cashback makes its DVD debut July 24 from Magnolia Home Entertainment. When art student Ben Willis is dumped by his girlfriend Suzy, he develops insomnia and to pass the long hours of the night, he starts working the graveyard shift at his local supermarket. There he meets a colorful cast of characters, all of whom have their own 'art' in dealing with the boredom of an eight-hour-shift. Ben's art is that he imagines himself stopping time. This way, he can appreciate the artistic beauty of the frozen world and the people inside it - especially Sharon, the quiet checkout girl, who perhaps holds the answer to solving the problem of Ben's insomnia. The plot synopsis for this movie intrigued me for a couple reasons: firstly, the dude can stop time. C'mon - who hasn't wished for the ability to do that?! Secondly, while time is stopped, he undresses women to draw them in the nude. Now, I've seen peope stop time in movies to save a loved one from death, change the course of history, etc., ad nauseum... but c'mon: if a real person waas able to stop time, what do you think they'd do with that power, when everone around them was frozen in time? My point exactly. While this is definitely an artsy movie, and not a teen/sex type comedy, it is still entertaining (not always a safe assumption when one is talking about an "artsy" flick) - the story is original and engaging, the acting is well done, and I was very impressed with the cinematography and directing of this film. Al in all, it's a very well done effort that caught my eye from the first sentence of the plot summary and held it right through to the end credits. Not enough original filmmaking going on these days, especially in the independent world, but this one is exactly that, and brings a sense of realism to an otherwise unrealistic premise. Good brain tickling, and good entertainment. Video The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen image is very solid in this release, boasting some bright, rich colors and (mostly) sharp detail throughout. Very nice. Audio Dolby stereo mix may not be that dynamic, but it's solid & audible, so no complaints. Extras making-of featurette "the short film" (watch the movie to know what the hell I'm talking about here) Closing Thoughts Original, entertaining indie flick + couple nice extras = something different that is definitely worth your time to check out