Sumotherhood + Q&A

LondonNet Film Review

Sumotherhood (15) Film Review from LondonNet

Actor, writer and director Adam Deacon returns to the mean streets of London in a self-penned buddy comedy, which taps the same parodic vein as his hit-or-miss 2011 film Anuvahood. A lacklustre script credited to Deacon, co-star Jazzie Zonzolo and Michael Vu uses five words – bro, bruv, cuz, fam, man – as the punctuation of breathless, wordy sentences peppered with references to 12 Years A Slave, Crimewatch and Emmerdale. If tumbleweed were to blow through the English capital, it would take root and flourish in Deacon’s picture, which boasts longueurs when jokes consistently fall flat and cast turn up the volume on performances in search of an elusive laugh…

The best moments, which are fleeting, do not involve the chaotic central duo, who share bunk beds without a humorous payoff (“We’re not gay. We just sleep together, innit”). Cameos and random one-liners, like the tower block resident who does not appreciate interruptions to her TV viewing (“Can you shut up? I’m trying to watch Gogglebox!”), are the welcome diversions. Ed Sheeran’s noisy introduction as a vagrant, who squats in bushes to relieve himself in full view of the public, is memorable for the wrong reasons but Jennifer Saunders single-handedly salvages the bullet-riddled closing act with a barn-storming portrayal of a no-nonsense detective inspector who abhors chauvinism on her watch. Her grandstanding MeToo-era speech bears scant resemblance to the rest of the film and is delivered with hilarious, scenery-chewing gusto.

Riko (Deacon) and best friend Kane (Zonzolo) are in debt to the Patels to the tune of £15,000 and have seven days to repay before they lose appendages and what remains of their dignity. An impromptu plan to hold up rapper Lethal Bizzle (playing himself) at gunpoint in a nightclub toilet ends in humiliation and the duo bungle the robbery of a local bank, causing one of the customers, hard man Leo Demarco (Danny Sapani), to suffer a heart attack.

Fake news spreads that Leo is dead and Shotti (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), leader of one of East London’s toughest firms, recruits Riko and Kane in gratitude for killing a rival. “It’s like we’re finally being viewed as bad boys, cuz!” whoops Kane. With the clock ticking down to the Patels’ deadline, Riko and Kane awkwardly embrace their undeserved new reputations while self-confessed “bipolar boy” Riko seeks to win the heart of Tamara (Leomie Anderson), who is fiercely protected by her unhinged stepbrother (Richie Campbell).

Sumotherhood swaggers unconvincingly through loosely tethered vignettes to a soundtrack featuring Skepta, Stefflon Don, Russ Millions and Tion Wayne. Toes curl with discomfort and boredom for extended periods as Deacon blitzes the screen with a police chase, protracted gun fight and Jeremy Corbyn randomly berating 10 years of a Tory government. “Too much is going on!” despairs Riko. But not enough, sadly, of what matters.

– Jo Planter