Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have already left a funny and profound mark on society. Key and Peele joins Chappelle’s Show as one of the most incisive comedies to analyze race and its perception in society. Let’s not forget something important about Key and Peele though: those guys bring the funny. Keanu is a rollicking fun time watching these two guys send up an action movie, and for you cat lovers, their sidekick is an adorable kitten.
Rell (Peele) is in the middle of a life crisis when Keanu the cat shows up at his door; his girlfriend broke up with him, leaving him rudderless. Keanu gives Rell back his mojo, that is, until Keanu gets captured by local drug kingpin Cheddar (Method Man). Rell enlists his married, safe buddy Clarence (Key) to help him retrieve Keanu. Chaos, drugs, and George Michael ensue.
Key and Peele aim to send up 90s action movies in Keanu. There are call outs to particular films using a (amusing) Keanu calendar. Like any comedy, not all of them work, but Key and Peele are smart enough to make more work than most. Their best choice is the use of slow motion. With determined music in the background, Keanu runs from various attackers, and Key and Peele attack people in unnecessarily elaborate ways. Emotional nights in the rain, trippy esoteric green Keanu (Reeves?) encounters, finding keys to an expensive car, lack of consequences for law breaking are all explored and sent up by talented comedians, with an appropriate level of subtlety or absurdity.
Key and Peele aren’t just one trick ponies though. Much of their success is due to adapting multiple personas and providing a large amount of specificity to them. Both Rell and Clarence are very nerdy men, but they can take what they use in their day-to-day lives and adapt it to a badass persona if they choose to do so. Key and Peele don’t denigrate the nerd part when toughening up; in fact, it is seen as necessary to create the appearance you want for people you are trying to fit in with. Because of this approach, they can sell George Michael as a real n word by reframing his relationship with his Wham! partner, or using corporate team building to help with gangster communication. These persona changes also help the two men uncover parts of their personality they did not know they wanted. The substance helps make the jokes hit harder, like when the mild mannered Key busts out a thug life, or if Peele’s gangster tries a crazy maneuver to save Keanu.
Key and Peele’s chemistry is so established at this point, that any scene with them probably doesn’t need to be scripted. Keanu plays to their strengths: they both get to mock movie tropes and play different characters. Keanu proves as well that the two can carry a movie together for a full 90 minutes with enough character work to make the film mildly rewarding as well. Method Man has to play the straight man here as the drug kingpin, a noble role that helps Key and Peele’s jokes land when Method Man is playing it straight. Tiffany Haddish is quite good as the female gangster Hi-C. Surrounded by tough looking men, she carries the biggest nuts of anyone, and can throw a joke or two in the process. Nia Long, Darrell Brit-Gibson, Jason Mitchell, and Jamar Malachi Neighbors contribute as well (with a few decent cameos). Oh, and Keanu the kitten is amazing, purring adorably over and over.
I am sold on Key and Peele, moviemakers. The two sketch comics successfully move to the big screen with Keanu, the kitten action movie we all needed, but never asked for. Maybe that’s Key and Peele’s secret talent: casting adorable animals for movie roles.