‘Keanu’ (2016) ***/*****
Cat videos jump from your phone to the big screen
If you’re a fan of Key & Peele, then you probably already have a good idea of what to expect from Keanu. I, however, have never seen a single episode of what is apparently a half hour sketch comedy show on Comedy Central, so I went into the film knowing little more than the fact that it was marketed on the strength of it featuring maybe the cutest kitten ever put on film. I mean, honestly, the entire marketing campaign for this movie hinged on how cute the kitten playing Keanu is, and it wasn’t a flimsy campaign. The trailers killed whenever I saw them with an audience. A little bit of research told me that the director, Peter Atencio, and the guy who co-wrote the film, Alex Rubens, were both regular staff members on Key & Peele, and, of course, the film’s two stars, Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, are also the stars of that show, so what you have here is basically a bunch of people who already make a TV show together taking their talents to the big screen.
The problem with the film is that it feels like the result of a bunch of people who make a TV show stretching one of their episodes out to feature length and then releasing it as a film. The basic story sees Key and Peele playing two nerds who have to go undercover as a couple of street toughs in order to infiltrate a gang of drug dealers and steal back the kitten (named Keanu) that was taken from them in a burglary. It’s a ridiculous concept, and a very thin one, that would probably work great as a three minute sketch on their TV show, or even as a fake trailer for a ridiculous movie that doesn’t really exist, but that doesn’t prove to be enough of a foundation to actually build a real feature on.
The interesting thing about Keanu is that there are parts of it that are so charming and funny that you really want it to work as a whole, so you wind up burning a lot of calories trying to cut it breaks and trying to convince yourself that you’re having a better time than you are watching it. Key and Peele are really great comedic performers, so it’s not hard to want to go along with what they’re giving you. Not only do they both have a strong sense of comedic timing, but they’re also both such great actors that they can’t help but shine when they’re asked to do character work. When they’re playing nerds, they’re absolutely believable as the sort of pop culture-obsessed beta males that makes up most of the millennial generation, and then when they’re asked to play nerds who are trying to act tough, it’s absolutely hilarious how layered their performances become. On one level, what they’re doing is funny because of how easily they’re able to switch from passivity to bluster, and on a whole other level things get even funnier because, even as they’re impressing you with their ability to act street, they’re still always able to put subtle nuances in their performances to let you know that they’re desperately uncomfortable doing it.
Again though, watching a couple of straight laced dudes pretend to be killer gang members is something that can be funny for the length of a sketch, or maybe for a scene or two in a feature film. Watching them put on airs for an entire movie just gets tiresome and annoying. The film’s problems with pacing extend beyond just the concept being thin, as well. There are also individual scenes that just don’t work, and that go on for way too long, which gives you ample opportunity to check the time. One scene where Peele and an associate sell drugs to an erratic Anna Faris (who’s playing herself) is especially egregious when it comes to failing to be funny early on and then never ending, regardless. Any scene where plot is happening in general is just really bad too. There’s so much exposition in here, and it all amounts to nothing.
The worst part of the crime movie elements isn’t even that they’re all too silly to care about, it’s that once everything is said and done, the plot doesn’t even end up making any sense — like at all. To be honest, the best parts of Keanu come in its first act, when Peele’s character has just met Keanu and he’s posing him in various outfits in order to create a movie-themed cat calendar. Watching these guys just have fun and tell jokes is a good time. Watching them try to put together an action movie is less so. For a film that was supposed to be about a cute kitten getting into ridiculous situations, this one sure does waste a lot of time trying to be a silly version of Deep Cover. They even waste time creating a perfect, happy, tied in a bow, Hollywood ending. Why would a movie this ridiculous in concept worry about adhering so strictly to the structure of mainstream, Hollywood storytelling? Go a little crazy! It feels like they unexpectedly sold the concept after pitching it on a whim, panicked at the notion of having to write a feature-length script, and then took every studio note that came their way in order to get to the finish line.
Again though, even though this is objectively a bad movie, there are enough gags in it that work, enough moments that are really endearing, that you can’t bring yourself to completely hate it. This is the sort of movie that makes a joke about rain in L.A. that’s only funny if you have a deep understanding of cinematic language. It’s the sort of movie that can make you guffaw when one of its characters shares an anecdote about getting to see an early screening of The Blair Witch Project. And it can’t be understated how very cute that kitten is. Though I’ll probably never have all that big a hankering to revisit Keanu, this movie has definitely put a bug up my ass to watch some episodes of Key & Peele.
