However, the swastika and SS graffiti and stickers emblazoned on the walls of the green room give them a better idea.
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Rell (Jordan Peele) was so inconsolable after being dumped by his girlfriend that getting high didn’t help ease the pain.
Peele, who also co-wrote the script, plays Rell, who’s sulking alone in his apartment after a sudden breakup. Rell has to sell her a new super-drug and endure her psychopathic rantings to see a man die.
It is important to acknowledge that seven tiny, brown tabbies divided acting chores to portray Rell’s beloved kitten, Keanu. Rell and Clarence have to infiltrate the criminal underworld to earn Cheddar’s respect and steal back Keanu. Fortunately, Key and Peele play off of each other so well that the film never totally goes flat, even when the plot seems forced.
The New York Times: “Running 90 minutes too long, the movie is a slack, erratically amusing excuse to watch Mr. Key and Mr. Peele tag-team after ending Key & Peele, their celebrated, often blazingly funny Comedy Central series that turned them into national memes”.
Tiffany Haddish: I thought I was amusing before but after working with them…they taught me timing and how to be more creative my brain. And if you want to have your own Keanu, contact North Shore Animal League America and ask for the “Keanu” kittens, they’ll know what you’re talking about! Two paws up. Producers are Peter Principato, Paul Young, Joel Zadak and Key & Peele. Clarence explaining the joys of George Michael to Trunk (Darrell Britt-Gibson), Bud (Jason Mitchell), and Stitches (Jamar Malachi Neighbors) while seated in a family van, for instance, is comedy gold. It only gets crazier from there. He names his gangster persona “Shark Tank”. Their style of comedy is unique to them, and I love it. While those examples seemingly have nothing in common, they are very well-paced in laughs and all around mayhem for the main cast. And like the best of Key and Peele’s sketches, which often take a simple joke and twist it around, “Keanu” uses its jokes to capture something that is stinging about cultural stereotypes and how we adopt roles.
And it makes sense that two sketch comedians would follow this format in their big-screen breakout.
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When the pair are given 30 seconds to pitch anything at the end, they send out a PSA to viewers: “If you’re watching this show”, Key says, “don’t ever come on the show”. Look no further than their YouTube channel, which is filled to the brim with standalone scenes that if stitched together, would make a gut-bustingly amusing film. “While there are still some laughs to be found throughout Keanu, Peter Atencio’s film always feels like a comedy that’s straining when it should be a big, easy hit”. That said, he kept his directorial style minimal, paused for all the right dramatic beats, and let the stars shine. And unfortunately for Rell bad luck continues when Keanu is catnapped by a gangbanger named Cheddar (Method Man) and his crew.
