Keanu
I have to admit- whatever I expected from “Keanu” is not what I got from it. This is not a bad thing, and makes the film feel fresher and more original than it could have been. The implication I had before watching it was that the cat was going to be anthropomorphized; instead, except for a particularly bad drug trip, it behaves very cat-like. It isn’t really involved in the action, and when it is, it’s a cat through and through. Credit must be given to Jordan Peele and his co-writer, Alex Rubens, for making this work as well as it does.
The advertising for “Keanu” has touted itself as “From the Visionary Minds of ‘Key & Peele,'” the hilarious sketch comedy series Peele and his on-screen partner, Keegan-Michael Key, just wrapped after four seasons of raucous satire. But that’s as true for this film as it was when “BASEketball” touted it’s stars, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as the creators of “South Park” to get people into the theatre. There are differences, however, because Parker and Stone had no behind-the-scenes involvement on that film, while Rubens and director Peter Atenico were also collaborators of “Key & Peele,” but let’s face it, the reason people would be going to this movie are seeing Key and Peele on screen together in another sharp cut-up of cliches and formulas, just as Parker and Stone were the draws for “BASEketball.” As much as I still enjoy that goofy send-up of the underdog sports genre, though, “Keanu” has a leg up on it with the way it moves from “black cinema” crime movie send-up to “Lethal Weapon”-esque action movie, all the while making us consider, “Is this really all about a cat?” That’s where their calculation on making the cat as realistic as possible scores highest, and makes this film work.
Key stars as Clarence Goobril, a husband and father who is staying home from a family weekend with his daughter’s friend and her family to wind down and get some work done when his cousin, Rell Williams (Peele), tells him his girlfriend just broke up with him. Rell is a bit of a screw-up who spends his days watching movies and smoking pot, so it’s not hard to see where she is coming from, but we still feel for Rell. He’s really down in the dumps before his mood picks up with the entrance of Keanu, an adorable kitten, into his life. His mood improves immediately, and he starts to get creative, which excites Clarence. But when he comes back from a night out with Clarence to a break-in, and a missing Keanu, he is laser-focused on one objective, to get his kitten back. Little does he know, however, that Keanu has a backstory that involves violence, although that will not come into play until long after Rell’s pot dealer next door (Will Forte) points them in the direction of Cheddar (Method Man), who he sells drugs for, and leads them down an unexpected rabbit hole of criminal activity and acting like badass killers, which trust me, they are not.
I think I probably laughed a lot more at “Keanu” than I probably should have, much in the same way “BASEketball” has affected me over the years. I think a big part of it is seeing Key and Peele on-screen here, and enjoyed seeing them play this material, especially when they need to go “full gangsta” when involved with Cheddar and his crew, although Key has some great material courtesy of his character’s appreciation for George Michael, and it’s funny seeing Peele try to be a killer when confronted by a druggie Anna Faris. Overall, this isn’t really top-shelf action parody in the same way a “Hot Fuzz” but if for no other reason, it’s a blast seeing Key & Peele and their collaborators poke fun at the Michael Bays and Jerry Bruckheimers of the world while telling a story revolved around the most adorable kitten you’ve ever seen on the big screen. Great comedy? Not really, but it’s a fun lark that fans of the stars will enjoy thoroughly.
