The Worst Things About Keanu Are Also the Best

Key and Peele's cat comedy is either disgusting or hilarious, depending on how you like cats and dead bodies.

By James Helmsworth

The most troubling things about Keanu are also the best things about it. The movie is named after the adorable escaped pet of a Mexican drug lord, and the poster is of said kitten, but it's real draw is clear: Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key, the comedy duo from the gone-too-soon sketch show Key and Peele and the not-gone-soon-enough MADtv.

Key (the bald, tall one) plays neurotic family man Clarence, while Peele plays Relle, his desperate, recently-dumped cousin. Relle finds Keanu, only to have the cat stolen in a Lebowskian drug mix up. This sends the cousins on a quest to rescue the kitty, which involves posing as assassins, doing a terrifying drug and some cold blooded murder.

That's the first troubling/great thing: that the quest for an adorable kitten racks up a huge body count. Depending on your mood, barometric conditions and which planet is in your house, it's either disgusting or hilarious.

Thing two: the duo retread a lot of ground from their show. It's essentially a movie extrapolation of that bit about "White Sounding Black Guys," which leads to some hilarious moments, like a one-upsmanship contest of who got beaten up by tougher guys. At the same time, it's a skinny framework for carrying a movie. It would be just a C+ but Luis Guzman is in it.

Rated R.

Critic's Grade: B-

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James Helmsworth

James Helmsworth

James Helmsworth is the books editor at Willamette Week. His work has appeared in Cleveland Scene, on Countable.us, and in the alumni magazines of various back-patting liberal arts institutions nationwide. He grew up reading Willamette Week, which easily explains up to half a dozen of his personality flaws, like reminding Portlanders that everything they enjoy was championed by Raleigh Hills dads before 1985.

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office.

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