Number three from my possible (I’m still debating) Sick Day Theater run and it had been sitting in my insta-queue for over a year. Back when we signed up, NetFlix streaming was heavier with Foreign/Indie stuff I like. I think this movie failed to garner any real steam or decent publicity thanks to the marketing campaign. No amount of festival awards will get many people to see it with such a poster and a vague description as I found on the DVD box at Blockbuster. Never mind that the UK isn’t really known for making softcore porn comedies nor does Blockbuster carry such material. Why didn’t I check it out? Around the time I stumbled upon it, BB was starting to irritate me with all the scratched DVDs our player struggled with and the favorable reviews on the box were dubious: two Web sites and Variety.
Through the beauty of streaming I could start watching, give it 30 minutes and stop if it just was plain awful; sadly this was the fate of Big Fan during my illness.
The story begins with Ben being yelled at by his girlfriend Suzy in slow motion. Through his narration he explains that what you’re witnessing is their breakup. She doesn’t take it well from the yelling and cursing you can make out. Days later Ben develops insomnia over it. At first he uses the additional time to read books he never got around to but when those run out he decides to take a third-shift job at a grocery store. There he observes how all his co-workers deal with time: for one, it’s the enemy so she puts tape over her watch; the rest pass their shifts by annoying customers or having scooter races in the aisles. For Ben, he discovers he has the power to stop time. This becomes important to the story yet I need to explain another aspect regarding the protagonist.
Ever since Ben was a young boy, he developed a fascination with the female form after his parents hosted an immodest Swedish exchange student (a tired stereotype caused by the film I am Curious Yellow). It isn’t perverse, it’s why he decided to attend art school. There are some other amusing flashbacks explaining Ben’s mindset which reinforce my argument.
Now by putting these two plot elements together, you can see why some reviewers found the film prurient, juvenile and a tad pornographic: Ben uses his newfound time-stopping power to sketch nudes of the attractive female customers. I would say his actions are unwise, unethical and probably criminal in most Western justice systems due to consent laws. Thankfully Ben’s moral compass is strong enough to avoid entertaining what lesser men would probably do. Besides, he is looking for a solution to the sleeplessness, not find cheap thrills. Without giving away anymore, good things do come his way and it ends happily for Ben.
I loved this film. It took something we all can relate to, a very ugly ending to a relationship and its aftermath; the regret, the pain, the restlessness, etc. Then a Fantasy element is introduced to take it in an interesting direction none of us can ever go yet we wish we could. Cashback shares some of its DNA from another personal favorite, Sliding Doors despite it starring Gwyneth Paltrow. Hence it receives my endorsement for adults. People under 14 would find it boring and slow.