I recently saw the trailer for this film and was quite impressed, so I decided I had to see it, and was not at all disappointed. This is a lush and impressive film, shot in sumptuous 2.35 and really showing a cool view of the artists view of the world, and of the naked female form, and being able to see beauty wherever it is. Amazingly this is literally an expansion of an 2004 academy award nominated and Tribecca film festival winning short film, which he basically made a new first and third act for and then reworked the original short for the entire cast (the original short is also included on the disc as well as a documentary on the making of it). This is certainly an art house film with a cast of quirky characters and enough bared breasts to be almost softcore, but it shows them in the context of an artist who is is using them as inspiration. A wonderful film about art and inspiration. This is a must see film.

Ben Willis (Sean Biggerstaff) is in his fourth year of art college, when he screws up and breaks up with his beautiful girlfriend Suzy (Michelle Ryan, now the Bionic Women, actually going downhill in the class of films she is in) and goes into a severe depression where he no longer sleeps, and is in a bit of a daze, only hanging out with his friend Sean Higgins (Shuan Evans) who has known since 5th grade and is a total hound dog. Ben takes a job in a night shift at a grocery store with an interesting cast of characters. The beautiful Sharon Pintey (Emilia Fox) trying to make money and pass time while she takes spanish classes so she can move to South America. The tone who things he is a stunt man Barry (Michael Dixon) and his best friend Matt (Michael Lambourne) who goes out to a movie with Sharon but pretends that he slept with her. And their strange boss Jenkins (Stuart Goodwin). All of them are finding ways to pass the time, Sharon hating to look at the clock, and Ben has his own unique way. He stops time. He stops time and wanders around the store, stripping the women naked and drawing them, using them as inspiration. passing his time by stopping time.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

Sean spends his time between drawing the women in the store naked and dreaming of Suzy, but slowly he stops thinking of her and starts thinking of Sharon, and drawing her every chance he gets, stopping time and drawing her from every angle. He finds out from her that she is only friends with the other co-worker, and after a terrible soccer game where their boss makes the guys play soccer against a rival store, and gets his nose broken, Ben takes Sharon for coffee, and they talk and he tries to kiss her though ends up kissing her cheek. The boss then invites them to his birthday party for the next weekend, and Ben agrees to go with Sharon as her date. The boss asks Ben to get a stripper for him, and pays for it, and Ben goes with Sean to find a stripper but Ben at the strip club dreams of seeing Sharon strip. At work Sharon confirms with Ben and gives him a quick kiss, and it breaks his spell, and for the first time in 4 weeks he sleeps, and sleeps most of the day, except for a phone call from a gallery saying they want to see his work, but in reality it is co-workers playing a prank

Ben picks up Sharon and heads to the party, but Suzy is there, her boyfriend turns out to be Jenkin’s brother, and when she sees him with another girl she wants him again, but he tries to blow her off. The stripper shows up, and has a great time, and it turns out to be Sean’s first love from when he was a kid and she took money to drop trouser, maybe he finally found a girl who will not throw her drink in his face, Meanwhile Ben and Sharon have a great time, but then Ben goes up the stairs to go to the bathroom and must wait in line, and who comes out but Suzy. At the same time Barry is doing a stunt down the stairs so Sharon looks up, and sees just as Suzy kisses Ben, but turns and leaves just as he pushes her away.

Ben stops time, to try and figure out how to change things, but he knows he can’t. He tries to go to her place, but she flips out on him. All he can do is go to a gallery with a folder of the drawings he did of her, and the gallery owner looks at all the drawings of Sharon and sets up an actual meeting.

Sharon quits her job at the market, but gets an invite to Ben’s show at the gallery, and she goes. Ben is doing well, and even gets an offer from an American gallery, and when he sees Sharon tells the person he wants to go paint in South America, which is where she plans on going once she finishes her Spanish lessons, and he runs over when Sharon comes in. She sees all the drawings and paintings of her, and realizes she was wrong about Ben, and he does love her. Ben saw someone move in time when he had stopped time before, so he does it again by kissing Sharon and brings her out into the snow and kisses her in the frozen snow, showing her the beauty of the snow as he sees it.

•••••

Wow this is really a lovely film, about seeing the beauty in the world around you, and finding love. it is really a great film. And the story of how it was made, actually expanded from an award winning short film is pretty damn awesome. This is really a must see.