I apologize in advance for such a delayed review as I just got around to seeing Keanu a few days ago. Keanu is the combination of the the comedic duo Key and Peele, their creative team, and an adorable kitten. Keanu tells the story of Rell, who has recently gone through a harsh breakup and finds a kitten on his doorstep. Rell decides to keep the kitten and adores it immediately. When Keanu, the kitten, goes missing, Rell must ask his cousin Clarence to help him investigate and find Keanu. Considering that this is the first feature film from Key and Peele, I can say it's quite charming and a serviceable attempt. The film's strengths are it's comedy, the duo Key and Peele, and it's lead kitten, Keanu. Keanu at it's funniest has plenty of jokes and gags that will make you laugh out loud and at it's worst comes across as a bit strange. I'll say I was convinced this would be one of the best comedies of the year upon seeing the first trailer but I was sadly disappointed. The film is fine, but it disappointed in regards to not being quite as funny as I expected. I found that the pacing was off throughout the film, with a efficiently paced first and third act while the second act lost steam and grew a little stale until Keanu was found again. The comedic duo of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele have found a great deal of success in the past with their Key and Peele Comedy Central sketch series and honestly that's what this film is, a one hour forty minute Key and Peele sketch with a bigger budget. Everything that happens onscreen is over the top zaniness and that certainly adds to the appeal. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were by far the funniest actors in the film but I think Key outshone Peele every time they were onscreen together. Keegan-Michael Key has appeared in quite a few films at this point and it shows, as he continually proved to be more adapted to the film format as he seemed to have the more interesting and funnier role of the two, that was written perfectly for him. Not really too much of a surprise though since Key helped pen the script. Peele is fairly serviceable in the capacity used and made me chuckle quite a bit but sadly was outshone by his costar. The supporting cast are all funny as well with hilarious one-liners but there weren't any particular standouts worth mentioning amongst them. On the other hand (or paw), Keanu is the probably the most adorable kitten I've ever seen. And that certainly boosted my opinion of the film as I couldn't help but make an audible "Aw" everytime I saw Keanu. In doing research for this review, I learned that Keanu was played by at least seven different kittens but I honestly couldn't tell the differences between them. In conclusion, there wasn't much else for me to analyze which is usually the case with comedies and the reason I try to avoid reviewing them if possible (i.e. I watched Trainwreck in early January but didn't see enough substance to discuss in a sufficient review). Parents, don't let the kitten fool you, this film has a hard "R" rating so I'd highly advise against brining or showing it to children because there is explicit content galore (lots of drug references and even some "drug use" [probably faked] and some sexual content). I can say that Keanu is an outright enjoyable experience that I'd recommend as maybe a rental or home video purchase but not as a cinematic experience.
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