STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Small time crook Mickey (Leo Greggory) is in deep debt to ruthless drug dealer Robbo (MC Harvey) and is generally down on his luck. Then, by chance, he is found by big time gangster Barber (Vincent Regan) and given the opportunity to enter the big league, where he crosses paths with American gangster Martell (Michael Madsen) and is drawn to Barber's temptress wife Liza (Beatrice Rosen.) But the higher he climbs, the deeper he gets and when he finds himself caught up in a lucrative human trafficking ring, he finds it may all be a bit too much.
There's a whole plethora of British acting talent about at the moment, and The Big I Am showcases a lot of it, with lead star Greggory, and a supporting cast including Harvey, Paul Kaye and Terry Stone, as well as the more well known likes of Madsen, Steven Berkoff and Gerad Butler dead ringer Regan. The premise of the story is a bit implausible and the pace is a bit weary which makes it drag a bit more as it gets closer to the end. Still, director Nic Auerbach handles things with enough flare and substance to get things by, with a slick urban grime soundtrack, an appropriately dark and hard hitting tone in places and a hip and convincing cast to carry things along. ***
