CINEMA: Bigga Than Ben

In which two self-confessed ‘Russian scum’ come to London in the hope of making their fortunes by using every rip-off scam in their frankly amazingly comprehensive repertoire.

Cobakka (Ben Barnes) and Spiker (Andrei Chadov) are drifters and losers but if they used half the amount of initiative and drive they employ in their scams in the real world of work they’d be up for promotion in no time at all. But they’re illegals and they’re hell bent on getting rich quick. In the meantime they find themselves living in a garden shed, unable to open bank accounts, getting ripped off by the rip-off artists on the next tier above them, and basically having a lousy time in London.

Suzie Halewood’s small budget movie is hip and fast, at times unintelligible, and shows the underbelly of the capital most of us aren’t even aware exists (and we’ve certainly never seen it).

Bigga Than Ben will probably become something of a cult film at festivals but because its two main characters are really rather difficult to like, it lacks mainstream crossover appeal. As Boney M would say ‘Ah, those Russians!’      Dee Pilgrim