Cobakka and Spiker, two kids from Moscow, “come to London to rip it off.” Days after arriving, they are homeless and working toward a bank scam involving overdraft protection and bad checks. Sadly (for them), getting a bank account in the first place requires identification, an address, and proof of employment. As the two slink around London making friends and enemies, their own lifelong friendship begins to feel the strain of their situation.
This could all play horrible and trite, but director Suzie Halewood is unafraid to make her characters brash and often unlikable in an attempt to keep the movie true (helping is that the film is based not only on a true story but on the co-authored diary by its protagonists). There are titles, subtitles, animation, and surprising cinematography at every turn, but the non-showy performances give the movie the intimacy of a documentary. Unfortunately, there are also moments that simply don’t work (like Spike Lee-ish political rants to the camera). In a movie that fires on so many cylinders, though, a few misfires can’t stall the engine.
MAYBE SO (7/10)
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