Born from the Kidulthood and Adulthood school of urban filmmaking, Anuvahood is one of the first comedies to come from this newly cult genre.  Sharing many of the same actors, Anuvahood tells the story of Kenneth (Adam Deacon), or K as his ghetto persona would prefer to be known,  quitting his job at supermarket chain ‘Laimsburys’ and taking to the streets of his council estate to help earn money for his mum, who is desperately trying to keep the bailiffs at a distance.  The wannabe rapper dabbles in drug-dealing and theft, all to supposedly hilarious consequences. 

The storyline is cleverly built, not through significant events, but through the characters Deacon (who also wrote and directed the film) has created.  Unfortunately this interesting and intelligent way of story-telling is poorly executed and is often to the film’s detriment.  Potentially endearing and genuinely funny characters (namely K’s father and Enrique, played by Ollie Barbieri) are neglected in favour of the more slapstick antics of Tyrone, who unfortunately takes up much of the screen time.  Long, incoherent speeches, over-acting, and graphic ‘comedy’ sex scenes make up the entirety of Tyrone’s character, yet fail to actually provide any substance to the film itself.

Deacon puts in a good performance as K, worthy of a Little Britain or Catherine Tate parody.  His performance highlights excellent comic timing, and genuine wit, something which, again, is absent from his closest posse.  Best friend, and loyal sidekick TJ (Jazzie Zonzolo) was too obviously based on a very early and over the top incarnation of Will Smith’s Fresh Prince, and is given too much clown-like humour, hiding the intelligent comedy Deacon is obviously capable of.  Meanwhile, Enrique, potentially a very good vessel to showcase some genuine jokes is instead used for little more than an inexplicable comedy Spanish accent.

Anuvahood, is a good idea, and the type of film which the dark urban genre is desperately in need of.  But poor characterisation, and too much focus on easy slapstick comedy, fails to do this good idea any justice at all.