Late Night Shopping (2001) is a comedy funded by FilmFour Productions. The film is about four young friends (Sean, Vincent, Jody and Lenny) who all work the graveyard shifts in various soul-killing jobs (the hospital, a supermarket, a factory and a call center, respectively) then meet up in a cafe after their shift to talk about nothing and generally kill time.

Synopsys

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Each of them have very little of a life, apart from their tedious jobs and meeting each other in the cafe. Sean hasn't met his girlfriend for 3 weeks and is beginning to wonder if she still lives in his apartment. Vincent is a womanizer who makes a rule of never seeing a girl more than three times. Lenny thinks of every woman he see's as a porn actress but can't even pluck up the courage to talk to a workmate that he want's to ask out for a date. Jody can't force herself to tell the other three that she was fired from her job, but still shows up after her "shift" every night to talk.

The film has a couple of UK-known actors, most particularly James Lance (playing Vincent) who has appeared in a series of I'm Alan Partridge, a series of Teachers and an episode of Spaced. Kate Ashfield (playing Jody) will most likely be recognised as Liz from Shaun Of The Dead and the new show Secret Smile.

References

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The film makes implicit and explicit references to the book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - the anxieties of the four friends can all be matched up to those of the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman and the Cowardly Lion, plus Dorothy, who is the leader of the group. Much the same way as in the Wizard of Oz, they have to travel to a far-seeming destination (i.e. out of town, which seems like a long way for a townie) to overcome their anxieties. Jody also explicitly says, when out-of-town and in a cafeteria, that this all seems like the Wizard of Oz.

Influence

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The film is quite unknown and considered by some as a cult film, due to many loyal fans proclaiming it is one of the best underrated comedies from the UK.

2001 films | Comedy films | British films | Cult films