Ashens and the Polybius Heist

This was certainly a decent movie. A couple of parts did make me physically wince. Co-writer Stuart Ashen referring to himself as "famous". Really? The use of "whatever" twice in the first scene. Just lazy. Was it the same shot used twice too? God I hope not.

It's a good comedy heist. All the pieces are in place and it goes at a good pace.

Stuart Ashen plays a version of himself and can certainly act. I thought he could cultivate a bit more vim though. Benny (Eli Silverman) is good but could tighten up his delivery in places. Kept reminding me of a younger Bill Bailey. Agonist (Stuart Barter) needed a much firmer directional hand. I have a feeling that his Stuggy rep had director Barmania twitten, so he let him spend a lot of time delivering his dialogue to the floor. A shame as he was genuinely funny and on point at times, showing flashes of what can only be described as genius and a rapid, quirky delivery on a par with Jessica Stevenson in Spaced, so it's a pity Barmania didn't encourage greater discipline as it would have paid dividends. Jarred Christmas on the other hand managed to be also slightly famous and across the board excellent. He and lawnmower-woman did beautiful things together. In fact, she (Joanna O'Connor) was excellent too, and reminded me at times of original Leia. Wondered if this was on purpose? My other front runners would be the lovely Vocal (Katia Kvinge) and Yiannis (Yiannis Vassilakis). Kvinge's downtrodden Irish misanthropic misfit was very convincing, with a refreshingly natural delivery and she nailed all but one of her accents. Vassilakis waded through a large amount of ill-judged character material and somehow still came out smelling of roses. Very William Thacker. Dan Hardcastle surprised me by being rather good with excellent comic timing. A couple of times he was slightly undermined by Vassilakis pulling focus a bit at the side of a shot. Oh lord yes, Dan Tomlinson. Well, he got better, but his first few lines! Who let him get away with that? Jeez. I should also mention Jonathan Ashen (Nigel Fairs) who I thought was brilliant, if underused. He could teach Barter a thing or two about focus. Lesson to Barmania, it's not all about the celebs.

Smaller parts I really liked were mattress man, heist bucket man, the weary security guard who had to put up with Jake/Kevin and, naturally, the ever-excellent Robert Llewellyn.

The film looks good, the cinematography is of a high standard, the sound effects are particularly well thought out and it's certainly a bonus to watch with headphones so you can enjoy the extra nuances.

First of all, it's rather good. The producers obviously invested in their crew and chose their cast with care, and it shows. Do you need to be an Ashens or Nerdcubed fan already to enjoy the film? I don't think so.

I was relieved to see more of a gender balance than is implied by the poster. The principle women are all excellent and help to lift the film, otherwise it could be conceived as a tad misogynistic.

Overall, the film packs quite a pace. It's funny, engrossing and likeable.

Stuart Ashen himself is a very solid actor - low-key, natural, with a good voice. Dan Hardcastle was top dollar. I also thoroughly enjoyed the OTT villains. Together with Joanna O'Connor, Jarred Christmas knocked my socks off, and their scenes were an absolute delight. I also found Ashens' and Christine's journey a pleasant surprise, providing unexpected emotional depth which came as a welcome contrast to the comedy antics of the Heist team.

There are times when you can see the film-making process has been rushed, a couple of scenes where you feel Barmania must have wished he'd had more time. Others where you can truly appreciate the precision and care taken with set-up and framing. The look of the film costume-wise is unexpectedly stylish.

When you consider the scope of the production, the budget and timescales, you have to give immense credit to Barmania for pulling it all off.

Relentless Films should be very pleased. This is a tremendous start.

This film has a plot that keeps you guessing and wondering what's going to happen next. The whole film is enjoyable and the cast do a great job!

A decent independent movie. The previous Ashens movie was a good effort but you needed to be a fan of cult movies to appreciate it. This one however is really good. Wonderfull British humour and good acting. If you are into British humour and can appriciate the geeky theme then this movie will not dissapoint you.

The cast was well chosen and the story kept you interested. The characters had enough dept and all contributed to the movie. There was only one gag that seemed a bit out of place but I can easily look past that one.

While the synopsis might make this movie seem a bit nerdy and niche market, it reaches parts others can't reach. It is a blast. Lots of laughs and some great characters. Good to see some strong women characters. Loved the oh so stylish jumpers. Has production quality rarely reached in low budget productions.