Little known in the UK Comedy Duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele has been making American audiences weep with laughter for years. Keanu see’s the duo break onto the big screen with the help of an adorable kitten named…. yes you guessed it Keanu.
Everything about Keanu has cheese written all over it and it simply shouldn’t work as a feature length film but it just so does. Who could turn away at the sight of a cute kitten – frankly they own the internet after all – a pair of comedians acting as nerds acting like gangsters and turning a bunch of hard-nosed gangsters into singing George Michael fans when Clarence introduces them to the Faith album. It’s just refreshingly funny when all we have been left with over the last few months are nothing but dry Kevin Hart movies/jokes which are certainly becoming old and stale before our very eyes.
Clarence (Michael-Key) and Rell (Peele) are nerdy cousins, Clarence married with a family and Rell newly single, is nursing a broken heart when little Keanu shows up on his doorstep. Pot smoking Rell falls instantly in love with the cute little Kitten who mends his heart. The cat takes his mind off his lost love as Rell dresses up Keanu in costumes from key scenes of films such as The Shining and Point Break for a calendar only the kitten to get mysteriously kidnapped.
Little Keanu has landed up in the clutches of 17th Street Blips crew, or more notably their leader, Cheddar played by a mean looking Method Man, who has renamed the kitty New Jack and makes him wear a do-rag. In order for Clarence and Rell to get their beloved kitty back they turn themselves from nerds into gangsters, donning street names and acting like gangsters to make a deal with Cheddar. The deal, to sell a new type of drug ‘Holy Shit’ and to take out his main rival.
Having Peele co-write the screenplay, and bringing on board Director Peter Atencio who has worked with the pair on more than 50 episodes of their show brings familiarity with the cast and that shows on screen with an effortless yet comedic performance which brings a hearty chuckle. Unfortunately, Keanu appears in less than a quarter of the film and this is the only negative as this brudda is a true little gangsta. The one major concern that the film studio might have is the fact that these two comedians might go down as well in the UK than they would in the US making this go with a release which is virtually unnoticed.
Keanu is out in cinemas July 15.
