Amongst other things, 'Keanu' is a vital reminder to all prospective pet parents: get all the proper paperwork in order before bringing home your little bundle of joy.
In this case, Rell (Jordan Peele) takes in a green-eyed stray kitten and names him Keanu for the good reason, 'it means 'cool breeze' in Hawaiian.' Concerned about his cousin's mental health after a breakup, Clarence (Keegan-Michael Key) comes by Rell's place to meet his new pet and is himself smitten. The buddies make a harrowing descent into feline boudoir photography, but the domestic bliss is short-lived.
Rell's house is cat burgled and he's desperate to find the person who absconded with Keanu. He first questions Hulka (Will Forte as James Franco in 'Spring Breakers'), the next-door weed dealer who directs him to HPV, a poorly-acronymed strip club.
There the guys meet one of the Hot Party Vixens, Hi-C (Tiffany Haddish) who, in turn, takes them to Cheddar (Method Man, riffing on his role as Cheese on 'The Wire'). He's the capo for the Blips, a forlorn clique in between the Bloods and Crips who are stuck rocking the color purple. And Keanu is there on Cheddar's arm, wearing a do rag and rechristened New Jack.
In order to infiltrate the gang, Rell and Clarence, who are quite believable as an underemployed stoner and a corporate communications coach, must rebrand on the fly as a pair of killers: Tectonic and Shark Tank. But first they have a sharp conversation that is the best bit in the film. Rell directs this excellent diss for his friend: 'You sound like Richard Pryor doing an impression of a white guy,' so Clarence instantly commences a tour-de-force performance as an unapologetic Blip hitman.
Key and Peele could use this opportunity to study the roles African Americans are encouraged to play in popular movies… but they only address the issue ironically here because 'Keanu' is a farce about a gangster pet.
Sometimes the film feels like a stretched-out sketch that leans on the vocal stylings of George Michael more than you'd like. Still, you have to love Peele for the continuing joke of his walk — he shuffles around before remembering to put more swagger in his step — and Key for alternating nervous business speak with authoritarian cursing — he might be the Daniel Day-Lewis of code-switching.
Director Peter Atencio's resume is a little thin beyond directing episodes of 'Key and Peele' for TV, though he did lens a Pepsi Max commercial and the enticingly-titled short film 'Whoreders.' His finest moments are slo-mo shots of Keanu scampering between bullet casing raindrops.
And, after it is revealed that before he was Keanu or New Jack he was Iglesias, a cartel cat, you're left to wonder if the feline is the real antagonist of the piece, a death-dealing, bewhiskered Shiva.
Check out the "Keanu" trailer here:
'Keanu' is showing at the Sonoma 9 Cinemas. Rated R. Running time 1:38. Visit www.cinemawest.com.
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