NO 'CASHBACK,' PLEASE.Byline: GLENN WHIPP> FILM CRITIC While working the graveyard shift graveyard shift n. 1. A work shift that runs during the early morning hours, as from midnight to 8 a.m. 2. The workers on such a shift. Noun 1. at the local supermarket, art-school student Ben (Sean Biggerstaff) discovers he can get through the grind by making time literally come to a stop. Not only does this make the shift go by fast, it also gives Ben the opportunity to undress every woman in the store so he can more fully appreciate the "beauty of the frozen world." That this suspended world is populated almost exclusively by buxom women beyond even Russ Meyer's imagination -- none of whom have signed off on Ben's body-beautiful forays, by the way -- gives you an idea of the claptrap at the core of Sean Ellis' misogynistic mi·sog·y·nis·tic also mi·sog·y·nous adj. Of or characterized by a hatred of women. Adj. 1. misogynistic - hating women in particular misogynous ill-natured - having an irritable and unpleasant disposition "Cashback cashback Noun 1. a discount offered in return for immediate payment 2. a service by which a customer in a shop can draw out cash on a debit card cashback cash n (= discount ." If Ellis' pretentious inquiry into the nature of beauty makes "Cashback" offensive, Biggerstaff's suffocating suf·fo·cate v. suf·fo·cat·ed, suf·fo·cat·ing, suf·fo·cates v.tr. 1. To kill or destroy by preventing access of air or oxygen. 2. To impair the respiration of; asphyxiate. 3. wall-to-wall narration adds insult to injury. But never fear, camera trickster trickster, a mythic figure common among Native North Americans, South Americans, and Africans. Usually male but occasionally female or disguised in female form, he is notorious for exaggerated biological drives and well-endowed physique; partly divine, partly human, Ellis isn't above waving his magic wand and giving Ben an improbable happy ending, complete with a bodacious bo·da·cious also bow·da·cious or bar·da·cious Southern & South Midland U.S. adj. 1. Remarkable; prodigious. 2. Audacious; gutsy. adv. 1. Completely; extremely. 2. new girlfriend (Emilia Fox) and a career boost that far exceeds his meager mea·ger also mea·gre adj. 1. Deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; scanty. 2. Deficient in richness, fertility, or vigor; feeble: the meager soil of an eroded plain. 3. scribblings. Naturally, it won't be too long before Ben mutes his new girl, stops time and goes back to what he does best -- degrading women in his pursuit of fleeting beauty. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672, glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com CASHBACK >R: graphic nudity, sexual content, language. >Starring: Sean Biggerstaff. >Director: Sean Ellis. >Running time: 1 hr. 42 min. >Playing: Fairfax Cinemas in Los Angeles. >In a nutshell: Mopey Brit stops time, undresses women and finds a brilliant career in this misogynistic lad-mag fantasy. >Our rating: One star CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Sean Biggerstaff is an art-school student who makes time come to a stop while working the graveyard shift at a supermarket so he can undress women. |
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