Cashback starring Sean Biggerstaff, Michelle Ryan and Emilia Fox follows a promising artist who discovers an extraordinary ability that helps him byepass times and events.
Ellis seems to believe that artists have an enlightened sense of beauty and greater access to it than common folk. And he may be right: He's clearly mastered the skill of convincing art-school chicks to take their clothes off.
Groucho Reviews
July 20, 2007
Cashback's eccentricity holds, but Ellis and his audience would have benefited from a clearer direction and a bit more restraint.
Shadows on the Wall
May 08, 2008
A little too mopey and sexist for its own good. But the cast is engaging enough to keep us interested
The film lags badly in the middle; the flashbacks to Ben's childhood aren't especially interesting and the lengthy soccer sequence is sheer dead weight.
Imagine Kevin Smith with a background in poetry and painting instead of comic books and bestiality jokes, and you'll have an idea of what to expect from an exciting new filmmaker named Sean Ellis, whose terrific debut is called Cashback.
FilmJerk.com
July 28, 2007
The first thing one will probably respond to, after the brief rampant nudity, is the exquisite cinematography by Angus Hudson.
As observers we can project our own fantasies onto Ben's, and [director] Ellis enhances this dreamy effect with low-budget ingenuity, like cleverly executing location changes in the same unbroken shot.
A good writer starts with characters and plot and allows the themes to come naturally from the story. Sean Ellis' script for Cashback is all theme, and it's not that interesting a one to begin with.
