Anuvahood (DVD Review)

3 Nov, 2011 By: John Latchem

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Revolver
Comedy
$19.98 DVD
Not rated.
Stars Adam Deacon, Ollie Barbieri.

Cinema is littered with characters with big ambitions who try to take an easy path through life and yet still end up succeeding. Their misadventures often are amusing in their own right, even if the characters themselves are unworthy of emulation.

The British comedy Anuvahood throws into this lot a hood rat named Kenneth, played by the film’s co-director, Adam Deacon.

Kenneth, who prefers to go by the nom de voyage “K,” is a wannabe rapper looking for his big break. He thinks he’s hot stuff strolling through the hood with his entourage, but the whole lot of them are losers at the mercy of local gangsta Tyrone and his boys.

At home, K’s failures have earned the ire of his mother, who needs him to pay rent to avoid everything she and her husband own being repossessed.

K thinks he can make a quick buck selling weed but manages to get his stash stolen by Tyrone, who manages to also rob K’s friends of their shoes, PSPs and other valuables, without ever having to pull a weapon.

Abandoned by his friends, K vows to avenge their mistreatment at the hands of Tyrone and elevate his status in the hood.

Deacon created Anuvahood as a spoof of British urban dramas such as Kidulthood and its sequel, Adulthood. He and co-director Daniel Toland show off some good camerawork and energize their production with a lively hip-hop soundtrack. But at times the film seems like it wants to be what it’s ostensibly making fun of, and a lot of the situational humor is undercut by a roster of unlikable characters. Maybe in Britain being overly obnoxious is meant to be inherently funny.
 

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