NO 'CASHBACK,' PLEASE.

Byline: GLENN WHIPP>

FILM CRITIC

While working the graveyard shift 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 "Cashback."

If Ellis' pretentious inquiry into the nature of beauty makes "Cashback" offensive, Biggerstaff's suffocating wall-to-wall narration adds insult to injury.

But never fear, camera trickster Ellis isn't above waving his magic wand and giving Ben an improbable happy ending, complete with a bodacious new girlfriend (Emilia Fox) and a career boost that far exceeds his meager 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, [phone], 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.