Anuvahood

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Kenneth (Adam Deacon) likes to try and play the big man, but his front usually gets dashed pretty quickly. Unable even to hold down a simple job at a super-market (Laimsbury's!), he takes abuse from his mouthy mum who's fallen behind with payments and having trouble from the bailiffs, and has to duck and cover from the hyper hard man on the estate who's out to put him down. Until a chance encounter dealing some stolen weed brightens his prospects a bit, as well as making a new friend in a Spanish relation of his uncle's. But it's all building up to go wrong, leading Ken to a final showdown that will test his will as a man.

Kidulthood and Adulthood have become cult films of their time, high-lighting the modern 'urban street culture' a lot of the modern youth follow, in particular the fashion sense and slang. So Adam Deacon, star of both films, is in a good position to make a film sending them up. Which is why it's so surprising the result is such an amateurish effort, that fails where something like Ali G Indahouse worked. Both of Noel Clarke's sink estate dramas aimed to pull no punches and dive into the unflinching underclass of 21st century Britain. This meant that, while good films in themselves, they were mostly quite downbeat, grim viewing. So it was welcome that the next 'hood' effort would be a more light hearted affair. Sadly, you can see most of the jokes coming a mile off, and too much of it feels forced and over the top, with inconsistent characters, including a villain like Wesley Snipes from Demolition Man on steroids, and some random, pointless characters being introduced and then never heard from again. That's not to mention most of the dialogue being spat out so ridiculously loud and fast you'd do well to pack some Alka Seltzer on your trip to see it. A disappointing mess. **

I'm a hard one to make laugh. The Hangover...meh. Shaun of the Dead...OK. Admittedly there are better crafted films, cleverer, snappier, whatever. I don't really like comedy that tries to be too intelligent. What I love is silly, leave your brain at the door, and just make me forget all my workday stress. I like to LMAO. And this doesn't disappoint, AT ALL.

I had read reviews...all of them suggested I shouldn't bother watching this. But being the perverse creature I am, and almost in a way WANTING to put it down (I'm a huge fan of the Noel Clarke hoods)I announced last night (to groans) that this was the evening's viewing. I'm so glad I did.

Being a 40-something (yeah, that'll surprise your "not for the over-30s" crew) middle class parent of teenagers, I'm already well used to the street slang, and in this film, every single tiny nuance of the culture and language is used to send itself up - brilliantly. Not much of a story, not much of a plot - it doesn't matter. Listen to your own kids speaking to their friends; look at their text talk. It's all here and ridiculed...but in a loving way.

Well done Adam Deacon; this was a great debut. It ranks up there with 4 Lions for me. And the next time I have an absolute b****** of a day at work, I might just watch it again ;)

The African Traffic Warden is one of the funniest things I have seen in forever. Kudos.

This is not a Kidulthood/Adulthood... far from it..It is looks to be a comedy from the trailer, but ends up being a weak comedy-drama.

The language in this film is London 'street' for a majority of it and perhaps only suit a certain audience. The characters aren't likable to be honest even the character Kenneth annoys you at times. There are only a few funny scenes. Mostly involving the character Tyrone, but some of it just unintentional.

Is it watchable..just about...but once you have you wished you hadn't bothered.

The script is poor and you feel you seen it all before, but only better written and acted.

Watching Anuvahood, it becomes clear very quickly that Adam Deacon the director was trying to make a British version of Friday, the classic American 'ghetto' comedy. Almost every aspect of the film has been influenced by Friday; for example the theme tune of the neighbourhood bully in Anuvahood is basically the same as the one in Friday but with a beat added to it! However, it doesn't come anywhere near to the brilliance of Friday, not even close! The main problem is that in Anuvahood all the main characters are played so stupidly over-the-top for the whole film (watch it and you'll understand). If you're looking for clever, subtle humour then look elsewhere.

Having said all that, Anuvahood does have its moments and overall it was quite entertaining (it is undeniably a unique and quirky film); some bits are VERY funny (my favourite was with the African traffic warden!)and it has some truly disgusting bits (one involving ketchup and feet).However, for most of the film I wasn't laughing, just thinking "Friday is so much better than this."

One more thing; if you're not familiar with the slang of the 'gangsters' in London, definitely don't bother coming to see it!

I really didn't know what to expect with this film, except that I thought the trailer was quite funny. What I got was something trying very hard but never quite being all that it could be.

The character of K is initially quite endearing, and has some funny moments throughout, but overall he is a rather thin caricature that you would cross the street to avoid, much like every other character aside from a foreign kid who is brought in, it seems, for absolutely no reason whatsoever and wasted as a result.

The plot is very poor and doesn't go anywhere with any attempt at realism or satire. Much of the script is poor, although when it shines it shines brightly.

Anuvahood is a film that badly needed a co writer and a decent script editor, and smacks of being a vanity project with not enough sets of hands on the wheel. It's not awful, but still leaves the viewer disappointed with it's many shortcomings.