Keanu (2016)
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Keanu Movie Review
Keanu is a 2016 comedy film directed by Peter Atencio and starring Key & Peele. It is a frequently funny movie and a pleasant surprise.
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……………………………………………………………………………The plot is okay, nothing remarkable, but it does lend itself to a lot of funny situations. And truly, Keanu is funny, sometimes even hilarious. I liked how it explored the black community and the differences in it and I loved how its protagonists were much different than the usual black characters. They are geeks, they are sensitive and they listen to “white” music. I loved that as it was authentic and led to a perfect clash with the criminals.
Clarence and Rell are such an awesome duo due in large part to Key and Peele who did such a great job here. Their performances are phenomenal and their comic timing and delivery are great. They obviously love working together as their chemistry if infectious and they are so good together. Rell is a sweet soul and I loved his relationship with Keanu the kitten who just might be the most adorable animal I’ve seen in years in film. He is so cute and also funny in some of the action in the last act. But Clarence is the highlight with his obsession with George Michael being hilarious and the part where his wife is suddenly really into him as he now acts tough was hysterical.
……………………………………………………………………………The humor in Keanu is excellent and although simplistic, it works as it hits a lot of the times. However, the reason why I found Keanu to be an incredibly entertaining, but still just a solid movie is that it suffers from the usual problem that most comedies share – its uneven and repetitive nature. Most of the jokes in the second half were just not as funny as those from the first half and a lot of the stuff felt too repetitive. Also, some of the middle parts revolved too much around violence, crime and action and I disliked that. Another problem is the ending. It was very funny, but I just never got how Hi-C could have been posing as a cop for all that time and the twist with Anna Farris and others that were shot being alive was just too implausible and somewhat ridiculous to be honest.
……………………………………………………………………………The pacing isn’t the greatest as it kind of slows down in the second act and that act was much more tedious than the rest. The dialogue is solid, but simplistic as is the whole movie. The direction could have been better and the action is well executed, but excessive. The score is solid, the film is well shot and the emotion is given in just enough dose. It is cute and adorable and even endearing and charming at times. And I just loved the friendship between the two and they are the greatest thing about the movie. As my first introduction to this duo, this movie is pretty good, I have to say. It has its problems, but it is so fun, frequently hilarious and always engaging that I really enjoyed it.
Keanu is uneven and repetitive in the second half and also often implausible, but the humor is quite good here as the movie is frequently hilarious with many funny situations, the characters are endearing, the titular kitten is adorable and Key and Peele are so good here, very likable and such a great duo.
My Rating – 3.5
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