Official Synopsis
When Rell’s beloved kitten, Keanu, is catnapped, the hopelessly straight-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline. But the incredibly adorable kitten becomes so coveted that the fight over his custody creates a gang war, forcing our two unwitting heroes to take the law into their own hands.
George Lucas always said that all you need when making a story is a MacGuffin to set things off and spiral into other plot points and such. Well, director Peter Atencio and writers Jordan Peele and Alex Rubens make their MacGuffin a beautiful kitten named Keanu. The question remains, how does Keanu become the catalyst (no pun intended) for a huge drug bust and several dead people, including Anna Faris? Because that’s one helluva involved MacGuffin.
Come find out.
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Act one of Keanu doesn’t beat around the bush, as the story starts with a drug dealer, the original owner of Keanu, going head-to-head with a couple of unstoppable badasses straight out of the matrix named Oil Dresden (Jordan Peele) and Smoke Dresden (Keegan-Michael Key). After making quick work of the drug dealer and his crew, the Dresden brothers briefly adopt Keanu, the sole survivor of the group, and promptly run into police officers. Keanu finds his way out of the complex of death and into the random arms of recently single Rell Williams (Jordan Peele), who adopts and becomes the kitten’s new parent, and who also has his life’s giant void, due to a breakup, filled through the kitten. Soon after finding the kitten, Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) stops by to see how Rell is doing, as well as take him out to the movies. When the duo comes back from the movies, they discover that Rell’s house has been messed up, the kitten kitten-napped and they also develop the motivation to bring back the only MacGuffin that made life worth living for Rell.
Yeah, it sounds incredibly ridiculous, but that’s par for the Key & Peele duo. There is so much humorous disconnect in the first act that it feels almost like a failed sketch on their Comedy Central show. The kitten is adorable, but beyond that the story setup is decent at best. The individual backstories of the characters are worth some bright spots, though. Clarence’s very effeminate musical choices, as well as his need to be the pleaser when it comes to family and friends is a sad way to live, but perfectly wraps his character and defines him. Peele really sells the hole left behind by his former girlfriend, even though we never run into her, and he fills it perfectly with the kitten. In the span of 15 minutes we get to know who these characters are, which is impressive, as some major blockbusters can’t do that with two movies. Anyway, character development and establishment is what makes act one a success, certainly not the story setup.
As act two begins, we find Rell and Clarence tracking down the location of their lost kitty. First, they visit their drug dealing, staying-at-home friend, Hulka (Will Forte), who points them in the direction of strip club owner and drug dealer, Cheddar (Method Man). Act two snuggles up with Cheddar’s world, as he is the one who took Keanu, and the guys must fit into Cheddar’s agenda and do his deeds to get the kitten back. By the way, the majority of the act has the guys imitating Allentown (some rough part of town) enforcers named Techtonic and Sharktank, so enjoy that part. If the guys do what Cheddar wants, they get the kitten back – simple. Of course, things aren’t as simple as they seem, the pair have to train Cheddar’s people and make them badass gangbangers starting with leader Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish). The adventures of act two lead to such wonderful moments like Clarence doing drugs, Clarence teaching the ways of George Michael and his beautiful music, as well as Rell and Hi-C visiting a drug needy Anna Faris (best part of the film). As act two begins to spiral into act three, Cheddar catches on to the duo’s act and exposes them, so that act three can start.
Act two is a wonderful pitstop of humor that refines the entire story a bit. The focus of the story, Keanu, gets more motivation and the comedy stakes are lifted to another level with the emergence of Techtonic and Sharktank. The characters step out of their established elements and put themselves in the thick of it all, which creates a minor level of suspense at times. There is no predictable indication on how they’re going to be exposed, nor is there indication on how they’re going to get out of their situation. In short, act two works because of the uncertainty, but stays focused on its plight. It lifts the movie up in entertainment value. This is the best act when you’re trying to search for a part of the story that is air-tight and complete.
Per usual, act three isn’t going to get revealed in this review, but I will say that everything starts kicking on all cylinders for it. The guys get where they need to be and progress in comparison to how they started out in the film. Almost all stories get wrapped up, which is what a proper movie does (unless it is a trilogy). The ending isn’t predictable at all, so, as they say in Kentucky Fried Movie, expect the unexpected. *THWUNK*
Overall, Keanu is a silly film that works on some levels. It’s ridiculous that an entire feature was built around a drug dealer’s kitten, but the comedy duo of Key & Peele make it work. They sell the product and leave you somewhat satisfied at the end of the day, if not only for the reason that you watched a movie about a kitten named after Keanu Reeves. If you like Key & Peele, you won’t be disappointed with this insane concept of a film. If you never liked their humor, keep on stepping.
On the special features side of things, here’s what you’re getting:
– Keanu: My First Movie (Featurette)
– Deleted Scenes
– Gag Reel
Not much to crow about, but it adds to the package.
