Cashback

After earning an Oscar nomination for his 2004 short film of the same name, English writer-director Sean Ellis decided to turn it into a feature film. The results are generally positive: alternately amusing and dramatic, Cashback revisits some of the same territory already staked out by the likes of Garden State and Employee of the Month, balancing its more sophomoric proclivities with some thoughtful and genuinely lovely moments. Sean Biggerstaff, who'd already appeared in a couple of Harry Potter films and has the kind of Doogie Howser looks that belie his real age (23 when Cashback was released in 2006), plays Ben, an aspiring artist whose traumatic breakup with girlfriend Suzy (Michelle Ryan) has left him not merely deeply bummed out (some of the film's best and most affecting scenes convey the sheer heartache of lost love, including the humiliation of calling his ex and asking for a reconciliation) but severely afflicted by insomnia to boot, ultimately leading Ben to take a job at an all-night supermarket, where his coworkers include the lovely checkout girl Sharon (Emilia Fox). One needn't be a seer to predict where all of this will end up, but despite a few detours and overused devices (Ben can mentally freeze time, enabling him to wander through the store and observe the customers and others as if they were mannequins—often naked—whom he draws on his sketch pad, honing his drafting skills), Cashback is a sweet, often tender film, helped along by Guy Farley's lovely music score. A strong optional purchase. [Note: DVD extras include a 19-minute “making-of” featurette, the 18-minute Oscar-nominated 2005 original short film, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a flawed but often affecting film.] (S. Graham)