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Bigga than Ben (2008)

tomatometer

60

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 10
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 4

Bigga Than Ben is offensive and maybe slightly misogynistic, but still a provocative and crass slice of immigrant life in London.

No Reviews Yet...

Release Date: Nov 18, 2008 Wide

audience

61

liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 458

My Rating

Movie Info

Bigga Than Ben is a crime-fuelled tale of two likeable but wayward Russian "pieces of Moscow scum" who arrive in London intent on bettering themselves and amassing an easy fortune. But it's not long before Spiker (Andrei Chadov) and Cobakka (Ben Barnes) realise that, legally, they aren't going to get very far. So, aided by the dodgy Artash (Ovidiu Matesan) and sidekick Spartak (Hero Fiennes-Tiffin), they learn to shoplift from supermarkets, rip off banks, joyride on the tube and turn mobile

Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.

Drama

Cast

All Critics (11) | Fresh (7) | Rotten (4) | DVD (1)

This lively comedy feels like about half a movie, as the inventive Borat-like hilarity runs out of steam after about an hour

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | Comment
Shadows on the Wall

Bigga Than Ben is small-scale, episodic and not without its sins of omission. But it looks as if it speaks the truth and is considerably more entertaining and thought-provoking than most of the week's other offerings.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: This is London | Comment
This is London

It tails off into a confusing ending, but Bigga Than Ben is still honest, funny and provocative enough to wind up Daily Mail and Guardian readers alike.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Total Film | Comment
Total Film

Where she's less sure is the disintegration of the friendship between Spiker and Cobakka. It's less than convincing and strangely unaffecting because - to be brutally honest - they're both a pair of neo-Nazi gits.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Sky Movies | Comment
Sky Movies

Still, it's an enterprising little movie in its location shooting, and I warmed to it - an overeagerness to entertain is hardly the worst crime.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | Comment
Daily Telegraph

Relentlessly crass, smug, charmless and unedifying.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | Comment (1)
Guardian [UK]

It's a depressing, grubby-looking little film with an undercurrent of particularly mean-spirited misogyny. You wonder what Suzie Halewood, the director, was thinking.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Times [UK] | Comment (1)
Times [UK]

What purports to be a rough guide, slyly but skilfully reveals itself to be a bit of a rough diamond.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

The performances are spiky, the use of varied locations is fresh and the dialogue - 'How could I ever imagine that I, a Moscow hooligan and Nazi would become a negro lover?' - is warmingly non-exemplary.

October 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Bigga than Ben

what a strange film! i watched this today on iplayer... and did not know what to expect at all. basically, two russian fellows come over to london so that they can defile the system and take whatever they can. they're racist, greedy and not very nice. in fact there were a lot of racist undetones in this one? avoid this

October 19, 2011

Best movie I have seen in a while. Very british! :)

January 1, 2011
Melanie K.
Melanie Koehler

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