Movie review: Gangsta kitty comedy 'Keanu' charms
April 29, 2016 12:00 AM- Steve Dietl
Keegan-Michael Key as as Clarence and Jordan Peele as Rell in New Line Cinema's action comedy "KEANU." - Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Keanu the cat in New Line Cinema's action comedy "Keanu." -
Jordan Peele as Rell in New Line Cinema's action comedy "Keanu."
From the demented visionary minds of Comedy Central's "Key & Peele" comes "Keanu" — not a biopic of the artist formerly known as Reeves but, rather, the tail of a cunningly cute gangsta cat.
Starring: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Method Man
Rating: R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity.
It starts off promisingly enough, in Billy Wilder "Some Like it Hot" fashion, inside a huge Los Angeles cocaine processing factory, where one big drug gang takes down and wipes out another. The sole soul survivor of that carnage is a kingpin's kitten, who soon shows up on the doorstep of stoner Rell (Jordan Peele).
Freshly dumped by his girlfriend, Rell is much cheered up by the kitty he calls "Keanu" and by his happily married cousin Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key). Life is beautiful there, in their comfortably suburban 'hood, until Rell's house is burglarized and Keanu is catnapped.
Thenceforth, the search — and custody battle — for Keanu is on. Our milquetoast heroes plot to retrieve him by posing as hit men in seedy Bliptown (crossroads between the Bloods and the Crips), where the big cheese is Cheddar (Method Man), who's holding Keanu hostage.
Co-star Peele has revealed that he co-wrote this screenplay around the time Keanu Reeves' "John Wick" (2014) was released. In that underrated action thriller, ex-hitman Reeves comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters who took everything from him — even his beloved doggie, a posthumous gift from his beloved wifey. The real Keanu did the voice for cat Keanu.
The film's funniest running gag involves Clarence's obsession with George Michael tunes. His heavy insights into the deeper meaning of Michael's vanilla post-disco dance hits ("Careless Whisper," "Kissing a Fool") inspire hardcore gang killers to lament — and bond with each other — about the lack of good male role models growing up.
If only the rest of it were so amusing.
Director Peter Atencio (Emmy-nominated for directing the "K&P" TV series) fashions a mildly entertaining farce, with a mildly interesting romance between Mr. Peele and gangstress Tiffany Haddish. But the silly string of captures, escapes and car chases are all formulaic stuff that Eddie Murphy did long ago and better. The chemistry between high-maintenance Key and slow-burning Peele is still there, but this is an underdeveloped sketch drawn out to feature length — a riff on LA gang culture that never achieves the liftoff or subversive impact of their best series work. I'm thinking (wistfully) of the great gay marriage and slave auction episodes — and, greatest of all, their East/West College Bowl football players' names: J'Dinkalage Morgoone (University of Southern Florida), Saggitariutt Jefferspin (Texas A&M University) and Hingle McCringleberry (Penn State University).
Ah, well. The scene-stealing charisma of that adorable title kitty makes up for a lot, especially in his do-rag and neck chains. I was much smitten by the kitten.
Post-Gazette film critic emeritus Barry Paris can be reached at parispg48@aol.com.
References
- ^ Ratings explained (old.post-gazette.com)
- ^ Sign up for free newsletters and get more of the Post-Gazette delivered to your inbox (my.post-gazette.com)
- ^ Commenting policy (www.post-gazette.com)
- ^ How to report abuse (www.post-gazette.com)
- ^ Commenting policy (www.post-gazette.com)
- ^ How to report abuse (www.post-gazette.com)
