So……………. Cashback. That was an odd movie.
We have Hotel Rwanda sitting in our living room for almost two weeks now. I want to watch it, because it is an acclaimed movie. Nobody wants to watch it, because it’s going to be such a downer. Maybe I should just send it back, because I don’t think I’ll be watching it even next weekend after I get back from my trip. Tough decision.
In any case, so instead of watching Hotel Rwanda (“The feel good movie of the year!”), we watched Cashback a la Netflix streaming to our TV. It was actually either Cashback, or Dan in Real Life. Personally, I didn’t wasn’t in the mood for Steve Carell. So how would I describe Cashback?
The movie was originally a short film that got good reviews, so they expanded it into a full-length feature movie. A British art student named Ben breaks up with his girlfriend, but later regrets it and goes into withdrawal and sulking and such. He can’t sleep for weeks, so he start working the night shift a supermarket with a colorful cast of characters. He also uses his imagination to stop time, and see the beauty of girls around him, and reflect upon his life.
It was odd, quirky, it was funny, but I couldn’t figure out what this movie was trying to be. He was interested in the checkout girl Sharon, so was it a romantic comedy? The protagonist could stop time — was it sci-fi? It could just be a quirky movie to explore a theme with the audience, but I couldn’t find the theme. There was a lot of female nudity, so was that the theme?
Hard to put my finger on this movie. It was interesting to watch, so it was a decent movie. I just can’t figure out what the movie was about.
Cashback (2006)