I have to give Key & Peele credit: they didn’t resort to filling “Keanu” with double entendre after double entendre of pussy jokes. It would’ve been easy to do so, given the plot of the film centers around a brokenhearted man trying to save his cat whom comforted him after a breakup. His quest in saving his precious cat even leads him to a strip club, opening up even more double entendre opportunities. Yet, Key & Peele, alongside their creative team from their hit sketch comedy show, are too smart to take the easy way out.
That doesn’t mean “Keanu” is a wholly original project. On the contrary, it’s filled with clichés and plot devices seen in hundreds of other films. That’s the point. Key & Peele make light of tropes seen in films for comedic effect, as well as touching upon race relations. If you’ve seen their show (and if you haven’t, stop reading this review and do so now, as it’s brilliant), you know what to expect. There are even easter eggs thrown into the film for fans of the show, my favorite being the two seeing a Liam Neesons movie.
“Keanu” loosely follows the outline of the recent Keanu Reeves action thriller, “John Wick.” That film had a retired hitman use his skills to exact revenge against those who killed his beloved dog, a gift from his late wife. Here, Rell Williams (Jordan Peele), along with his cousin, Clarence Goobril (Keegan-Michael Key), are after the gangbangers who stole his beloved cat, Keanu, seemingly a gift from God to help Rell cope with his breakup. Instead of dishing out vigilante justice, the two wind up impersonating the Allentown Brothers, a pair of notorious drug dealers who exist in the shadows (and are naturally played by Key & Peele, as well).
Cheddar (Method Man) is the one currently in possession of Keanu, dubbing him New Jack (an admittedly far superior name). He makes a deal with the men he believes to be the Allentown Brothers in that, if they teach his new recruits the ropes of drug dealing, he’ll give them the cat. Most of the humor here is in witnessing Rell and Clarence act against type, feeding into stereotypes to convince everyone they’re dangerous thugs. It goes so over the top it reaches the realm of fallacy, making it all the better.
It’s once the story gets set in motion that the clichés come about. Rell and Clarence begin to embrace their inner thug and become too dangerous for their own good. One moment in particular has Clarence learning that his neighbor, Spencer (Rob Huebel), made a pass on his wife, Hannah (Nia Long), and he takes his aggression out on Cheddar in hilarious fashion. There are many more moments where the two get in over their head, such as when Rell has a drug deal with actress Anna Farris go south quickly, with him nearly being shot by his protégé, Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish). This scene in particular drags on for far too long, with the gag being that Anna Farris is a psychopath who orchestrates a game of truth or dare with a samurai sword not sticking. If they wanted to get use out of a popular name, they should’ve included a few more sequences with Will Forte, whose portrayal of Rell’s skittish drug dealer is so off the wall that it never fails to generate a laugh.
The middle half of “Keanu” unfortunately drags quite a bit, slowing the movie down considerably. It’s clear director Peter Atencio is more accustomed to directing sketches on “Key and Peele,” as he struggles to keep the pace up for the duration of the ninety-eight minute runtime. When he’s setting things in motion in the beginning he’s fine, as he gets to be creative (such as having Rell recreate famous movie scenes with Keanu). For the finale, he gets to be outrageous with the material, complementing the bombastic nature of Key & Peele. It’s in the middle, where the story takes center stage, that he stumbles. It feels as if this was originally a short extended to feature length.
Jordan Peele, who co-wrote alongside Alex Rubens, fill their script with enough irreverent gags to counter the sluggishness. Some of these are expected beats, such as clean cut Clarence getting high from heavy weed, but these beats do elicit some chuckles. The most clichéd of them is the gangbangers singing George Michael with Clarence while on stakeout. No matter how many times I see people singing songs outside their comfort zone, it’ll always make me laugh.
It’s no easy task translating sketch comedy humor to feature length. Key, Peele, and their crew don’t come out unscathed, but they make the best of their first endeavor. Key & Peele are naturals on the screen, hence why they appear as frequently in big films as Lindsey Lohan does in rehab clinics, with their presence going a long way in making “Keanu” work. The middle may sag, but the first and third acts are hysterical!
Final Rating: B