Good for Adam Deacon: It was about time the English actor, rapper and filmmaker caught a break after years of living and working in the shadow of Noel Clarke on the films that made him (beginning with 2006’s Kidulthood, a teen crime drama based on Clarke’s experiences of growing up in Ladbroke Grove) and almost broke him. Sumotherhood, Deacon’s sophomore feature and loose sequel to his 2011 comedy Anuvahood, gives the filmmaker a fighting chance to stand on his own two feet, and prove he’s had the guts all along. That the film is not very good almost feels besides the point.
The premise sees Deacon’s bipolar Londoner Riko and his loyal if slightly naive best friend Kane (Jazzie Zonzolo) on a quest to be taken seriously as roadmen by getting out of debt and maybe (Riko) even getting the girl, Tamara (Leomie Anderson). Director and co-writer Deacon feels his way through a messy string of what might work nicely as sketch vignettes instead of an actual feature – but if you know who and what you’re in for as you part with your cash at the ticket counter, it’s hard to not crack at least one smile.
