Checkout (2002)

User Rating:

3.5/10   

Director:

Mark Foggetti

Writers:

Mark Costello (writer)
Mark Foggetti (writer)

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (USA)

Cast

Anson Scoville	...	Curt McCain
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Duane Boutte	...	Almo
Casey Costello	...	Boy on wagon ride
Doug DeBeech	...	Harrison Micheals
Jack Gwaltney	...	Chad Anders
Carrie Ann Kaye	...	Noreen Hegedorn
Michael Parducci	...	Nick McCain
Richard Satterwhite	...	Jason
Burt Young	...	Uncle Louie

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15

Filming Locations:

Rochester, New York, USA

Company:

Great Atlantic Pictures Inc.

Checkout Rocks!

I had the pleasure of seeing this little independent comedy at a recent film festival in Southern California and found it captivating.

The two leads are charming, talented and worthy of further exposure in films. In fact, while Burt Young (ROCKY 1-4) was the only familiar face in the cast, I thought the other performers were uniformly good in their roles, which is rare in a low-budget independent film, where often friends and family are pressed into service. Clearly, this was a cast of professionals and they served the film well.

The premise was something unique and I always respond to originality when I see it in films. A likeable man-child, still pining for his lost love and looking for his place in the world, starts a dating service in the family-owned supermarket where he works. There are numerous funny sequences involving how people are put together in this highly unusual context. A subplot involving a threat to bulldoze the market for a parking lot, while not as engaging, still works well as a counterpoint to the dating service aspect of the story.

Director/cinematographer Mark Foggetti gives a thoroughly pro look to his film. Low budget movies usually look like it, owing to poor production values, underlit scenes and amateur level acting. CHECKOUT has none of these faults and indeed, looks like a studio-produced feature.

If you're looking for an evening of light entertainment, you could do much worse than CHECKOUT.