Cashback is a 2004 short film remade into a 2006 feature film, written and directed by Sean Ellis.
Ben (Sean Biggerstaffnote ) is a wage slave working the night shift at Sainsbury's, a 24-hour grocery store, earning money to put himself through art school. Among his co-workers are the lovely Sharon (Emilia Fox), goofy cut-ups Matt and Barry, and their irritating, overbearing boss Alan.
The workers at the supermarket find different ways to pass the time. Sharon avoids looking at the clock at all costs, even putting a piece of tape over her watch. Matt and Barry goof off all the time, doing things like having scooter races around the aisles. Ben eventually discovers that he has the ability to manipulate time. He can speed it up, but more importantly, he can freeze it. Ben the aspiring artist then starts undressing the beautiful women he occasionally sees in Sainsbury's and drawing them.
None other than Rick Astley of Rickrolling infamy composed the music for the 2004 short.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Expansion: The feature built a 102-minute story out of what was a 17-minute short. And since all the actors from the short film returned for the feature film, the short was incorporated in its entirety into the feature. The original short mainly showcases Ben's life in the supermarket and the characters frozen-in-time gimmick, while the feature film expands on Ben's motivations, included a romance with Sharon, along with additional frozen-in-time narratives and creatively filmed flashbacks.
- Bilingual Bonus: When Sharon insults Matt in Spanish, it is not subtitled.
- Body Motifs: Recurring motifs in the film involve Ben's narration about his experiences in capturing the beauty of the female body, and eventually that of his new love interest Sharon too.
- Butt-Monkey:
- Alan had no less than 3 accidental mishaps in this film. He had milk thrown onto him when the two of his employees were goofing around, was injured from his employee kicking a soccer ball hard and onto his face, and finally Sharon rebuffed his advances by spitting some candy he offered - right into his throat and thus causing him to choke.
- Not to forget Sean too with his numerous failed dates.
- Call-Back: The film starts with Ben's breakup with Suzy playing out in slow motion. Later, after a misunderstanding with Sharon, her ranting at him is portrayed the same way.
- Casanova Wannabe:
- Sean had pretty bad luck with dates, but he's the only contact Ben has who knows where and how to hire a stripper.
- Also, Ben's boss Alan who frequently tries to hit on his employee Sharon. During his birthday party when he's drunk, he made this even clearer to Sharon, who rebuffed him. It is implied that a combination of this encounter and Sharon witnessing her date kissing his ex-girlfriend, both on the very same night had made her quit the supermarket night shift job.
- Chekhov's Gunman: Remember that during his childhood, Sean paid Natalie to show him her vulva? Turned out that the stripper Sean helped Ben to hire is a now grown up Natalie.
- Dope Slap: Alan gave Ben one when the latter is idling around staring at a spilled bag of peas without cleaning it up.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Ben's art of the female beauty finally paid off and his works gets featured in an art gallery. At the same time he reconciled with Sharon when she saw those artworks were of her.
- Europeans Are Kinky: Of course it's a Swedish woman guest strolling around young Ben's house in the nude.
- Facecam: On Barry as he's cruising around the grocery on a scooter.
- Fanservice: Lots of naked women.
- Fanservice Extra: Many. Porn star Hayley Marie Coppin appears as the naked Swedish exchange student. Keeley Hazell, one of the most famous Page 3 girls ever, appears in the feature only as one of the naked frozen women in the supermarket.
- Imagine Spot: Ben has explicitly narrated that to quell his insomnia-induced boredom, he imagined he can stop time. So all the Fanservice moments where he undressed the beautiful women in the supermarket as well as the other time-stop scenes elsewhere is nothing more than his wild imagination playing. To back this up, to strip women nude without their consent and without showing any guilt is pretty much an Out-of-Character Moment for Ben since in the rest of the film there's nothing to indicate that he's a creep.
- Inherently Funny Words: Matt and Barry bust out laughing when an elderly woman at the meat counter asks for sausage.
- Insulting from Behind the Language Barrier: After Sharon learns of Matt spreading a rumor that he slept with her, she insults him in Spanish.
- Knuckle Cracking: Ben "unpauses time" by doing this.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Mild, comedic variant. Matt boasted to his fellow male employees having bedded Sharon (Which turned out to be lies), and later on also accidentally injured his boss during a soccer match. On the next day, he ended up manning the checkout counter in place of Sharon, who deliberately ignored his request to be taken over and gave him the middle finger instead.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: All the time-stop moments.
- If it is "magic", we are expected to think that Ben actually has some time-stop superhuman ability and he sometimes used it to do something that's completely out of character. Additionally, the film doesn't go too in depth exploring nor explaining that power of his.
- If it is "mundane", this is just a Rule of Symbolism. Both the short and feature film at the beginning had strongly implied, if not outright confirmed those are merely his Imagine Spot. Then again, a separate time-stop moment involved him witnessing someone else still able to move - little to no explanation given, hence this vagueness still leaves a bit of room to interpretation.
- Mistaken for Cheating: During Alan's birthday party, Sharon witnessed a girl (Ben's ex-girlfriend Suzy) kissing Ben, and thus left in a hurry. She was seen furious and refused to accept Ben's later explanation. The impact of this scene feels rather muted or even odd however, since there's not much development featured between the two in the first place and it was merely their first date.
- Mistaken for Gay: Ben recalls a moment in his younger days when he and Sean were almost caught perusing adult magazines. Ben's mother however, only noticed the erections they sported through their pants and thought something else was going on between the two of them.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Matt and Barry play a prank on Ben, with Matt calling Ben pretending to be an art dealer who wanted to feature his work. Ben only learns he's been had when he actually heads to the gallery, but the real art dealer is impressed enough with his portfolio to give him a business card. The movie ends with Ben hosting a show at the gallery.
- No Antagonist: While there are various characters throughout the film who added complications or problems to Ben's life be it intentional or not, there's no specific character designated to oppose the protagonist's goals from start to end. The film is basically just a collection of relatively mundane events during Ben's insomnia period.
- Power Perversion Potential: Well, he is using his time-stop ability to draw naked ladies. But more likely it is just his Imagine Spot.
- Progressively Prettier: Sharon is first shown in the film as a harried checkout girl. The more Ben interacts with her, the more attractive she appears as the story progresses. Part of the reason is that most of Sharon's initial portrayal comes from the original short 2 years earlier. By the near-end of the movie, Ben devotes an entire art gallery to putting her beauty on full display.
- Protagonist-Centered Morality: If one subscribes to the "magic" interpretation of the Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane entry: In another setting, rendering women unable to consent and then stripping them naked so you can draw them, might be considered... bad. Here, it's just part of Ben's artistic appreciation of female beauty. It's conveniently contrasted by his best friend Sean's unabashed lust.
- Relationship Compression: Inverted, in that Ben and Sharon doesn't get much interaction with each other in the original short. The feature length movie places more focus on his budding relationship with Sharon, but even then, the romance still developed rather quickly compared to how real life or even how many other romance movies does.
- Rule of Symbolism: Ben's time-stop moments apparently represents his leisurely introspection and withdrawing into his own world. The ending where both he and Sharon saw the frozen snowfall can be interpreted as Ben inviting Sharon into his life.
- Running Gag: Sean constantly getting slapped or having drinks splashed at him by an angry potential date.
- Sexy Scandinavian: The curvaceous student whose naked form triggered Ben's obsession with the female body is Swedish.
- Shameless Fanservice Girl: The Swedish student thinks nothing of strolling around the house nude while young Ben is around. Natalie counts as well.
- The Sleepless: Ben since his breakup. He decided to work at the grocery store because he had nothing else to do with what used to be his sleeping hours. He finally slept in weeks when he gets his first kiss from Sharon, only to relapse into insomnia soon after she saw him and Suzy kiss.
- Those Two Guys: Matt and Barry are almost always seen together doing something fun, stupid, or both.
- Time Stands Still: Ben's Imagine Spot on how he can make time stand still.
- Title Drop: Ben muses about how he gives the grocery 8 hours of his time and they give him money—"cash back". Later Sharon asks a customer if they want cash back.
- Video Credits: Of all the principals.
- Visual Innuendo: Matt and Barry note how a certain shampoo comes in a package that looks very much like a dildo. They set about surreptitiously putting bottles of the shampoo in women's shopping carts.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: In one instance while Ben pauses time, he sees a man running away from him, catching him by surprise. This is never addressed again in the film. Some viewers interpreted this moment as Ben getting distracted from his imagination.
