Review of Cashback (2007) by Jess K — 17 Jun 2009

This is a story about an art school student, but like Art School Confidential, it's only a backdrop to what's really going on. A boy breaks up with his girlfriend, and the emotional turmoil that it causes transforms him into an insomniac. Now, with an extra eight hours on his hand he works the night shift at a local supermarket where he meets some wacky friends and, quite possibly, the girl of his dreams.

Cashback is a mixed bag for me. The film does look really good, I liked most of the characters and the storyline wasn't half bad. However, there were multiple points throughout this entire movie where it seemed that the director wasn't sure where to go. It's one of those movies that tries to accomplish a lot of things in a very short amount of time.

I liked the acting, for the most part. For the most part being the supermarket employees. I thought the main character, and the girl he admires at the supermarket could have been played better, but that's just me. There were parts where the cast got along really well, which gave it a Scrubs-esque type atmosphere. The dream sequences where he stops time is where this movie is at. The scene where he strolls through the aisles, painting women, was remarkable, although some may get all iffy about the use of nudity during said scene. This movie is littered with little scenes like this that make it truly shine, but, like I said, there are points where the movie doesn't seem to know what it wants to accomplish, which leaves it rather messy.

Cashback is a cool way to spend an hour and a half, and is definitely something unique and different. It's a quaint surrealist picture, but, like I said, it has its drawbacks.