Keanu

For some reason or another, I've never been a very avid follower of Key & Peele (the show). Whenever I've watched skits from it on Facebook or Youtube, what have you, I find them hilarious -- I guess I'm just not a frequent visitor to Comedy Central these days.

Upon seeing the trailer for Keanu, you knew it was going to be very much like a lot of their comedy: surface stupid, but often wickedly smart underneath with a lot of solid laughs throughout.

Unfortunately, Keanu isn't all that [secretly] smart, but it is still very funny and when it really gets going, it's downright uproarious.

Oh and that kitten is the cutest thing on the planet. And I'm most certainly not a cat person by any means.

Keanu's plot is rather simple, but still unique. Rell (Peele) has recently been broken up with and is wallowing in self-pity. One day a kitten appears at his door, seemingly lost, and his life brightens up again as he becomes obsessed with the kitten. Within a few weeks however, his place is broken into and Keanu is taken -- leading him and his George Michael-loving friend, Clarence (Key) on a mission to take him back from the gang known as the Blips. Keanu's plot is straightforward and sets itself up for some really funny moments. Like some other comedies however, it just doesn't know quite when to throw in the towel. The final 20 minutes feel like a collection of unnecessary complications that extend the life of the film decently past where it should have gone. As a consequence, much of these final segments are less comedic than the previous ones. It's not enough to leave a sour taste in your mouth or anything of the sort, but I think you'll find yourself checking your watch more frequently as the movie nears its end than if it would have cut some of the less funny parts and trimmed the ending.


Key & Peele: action heroes?

OMFG I CANT EVEN

Keanu excels at knowing and using the talents of Key and Peele, probably because they had a large hand in making it. While at times the segments come off as separate skits, the collection of all them feels much more like a movie than one large skit they could've created on their show. Which is definitely a good thing. Peele is often the rock of the film, staying calm and cool when he can and continuously obsessed with getting little Keanu back. Key basically amounts to a loose cannon for some of the film's better scenes and his transition between a stuck-up eloquent speaker to a foul mouthed thug are gold. Also gold, but completely random, is his love for George Michael. I won't go into too much detail here, but I found that nearly every scene having to do with George Michael, with one in particular, had myself and my theater absolutely rolling. How they arrived on that character trait being as funny as it was, I'll never know, but there are some priceless moments in there. Much of supporting cast does fine, though never really get a comedic moment to shine. Will Forte is painfully awful as a weed dealer, which is a shame because I find him pretty funny elsewhere (i.e. Last Man on Earth). Other than that, this cast is forgettable except for Key, Peele, and adorable little Keanu.

Shark Tank and Tectonic don't take no s**t!!

Keanu does suffer a tad though, like most recent comedies, from not knowing when to cut its losses. There were a handful of jokes and skits that I just didn't find funny at all, but yet they kept going. This isn't unique to Keanu by any means, I feel like it's more surprising given the talents of Key and Peele. An example that comes readily to mind is a drug delivery with a cameo that goes wrong. Most of it is intended to be funny, but it felt forced and really odd from where I was sitting. That was probably the worst case scenario as the rest of the film just has a few jokes here and there that fall flat but still worth noting. Keanu also relies a little too heavily on these two generally well-behaved characters dropping the N-word for laughs. I'll admit...there are times it's hilarious, but when the film tries to achieve those same laughs within the final third, it loses most of its effect. 

Despite any qualms I may have had with Keanu, it's still a fun time to the theater, even if it's a film you only really need to see once. Some classic Key and Peele humor is on display throughout and I'd argue that the George Michael scenes are worth it alone. But if neither of those entice you, then maybe seeing the world's most adorable kitten will?
  
CONS:

• Overly long by about 20 minutes. Some unfunny jokes could have been edited and the final strings of plot could have been tweaked to easily achieve this
• Handful of jokes that fall flat, a "cameo" drug deal being the best example
• Repeats many of its jokes. Some work better in this regard than others
• Reliance on N-word for laughs wears thin eventually
• Forgettable side cast and a pretty bad Will Forte

PROS:

• Key and Peele are fantastic together here just as they are in their show. They can both lead a film effectively
• Keanu is the cutest thing ever. Once again...not a cat person here
• Fun, somewhat unique plot
• Really funny on a somewhat consistent basis
• On that note, any of the George Michael segments are some of the film's best
• Fun, funny, and entertaining one-time view

Rath's Review Score: 7/10