Review of Keanu (2016) by Cody F — 27 Apr 2016

When Keanu Reeves was but a young lad in the film business his good looks landed him many a part but his hollow performances have remained the subject of ridicule even to this day. So too will the Key and Peele feature film of the same name be remembered for how painfully unfunny it was. In a nut shell, when you have to explain a joke 3 times and it STILL doesn't land, you're doing it wrong. A moment in the movie takes us to a strip club called Horny Party Vixens. I get missing that its initials are HPV from hearing it out loud. But then when you get to a sign for the strip club that says HPV and the audience still doesn't laugh, you have problems. When Key spells it out for the audience and it remains unfunny, well that was how the entire movie felt.

Before you go off on me thinking about how I don't get the Key and Peele humor, I've seen their sketch work before and they definitely have talent. The Obama anger translator bit is hilarious. But the small doses sampling that works so well for them in sketch comedy falls flat in a feature film. Do we really need to go through several of the hits of George Michael's catalog to make a point about his talent? Though that overextended portion of the film could have made a fun sketch. It's not completely without merit but this is definitely a movie you don't want to pay money to go see.

Key and Peele are Clarence and Rell respectively. Rell gets dumped but then has a kitten that he names Keanu find its way to his door which makes him so happy. After they go see a movie, Rell's apartment has been burgled and Keanu has gone missing. So they go looking for him and enter into the gangster life where they constantly have to avoid acting like the straight laced guys they are and start behaving like thugs. Supposedly, this is when hilarity ensues but its such a long reiteration of the same joke over and over again that I quickly lost interest in it.

Keanu is not completely without merit. Anna Faris as herself has some of the best scenes. There is a definitely love poem to Los Angeles feeling with nods to In & Out Burger, the ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome, and various highlighted areas of LA. But a travel picture this is not and I have no urge to visit L.A. after having sat through this dud. The ending is ridiculous and the whole lets take everything way over the top nature wears thin very fast. Unless you like watching movies that tell the same joke 50 times, I strongly urge you to skip this one. You can always pick it up in the bargain bin at Walmart for 99 cents later this year.

This Queen was dreadfully not amused at all. 1 out of 5 rainbows.

1 rainbow - How did this get funded?

2 rainbows - You might find something of interest here but unlikely.

3 rainbows - Serves as a useful and entertaining enough distraction as a matinee.

4 rainbows - Stop reading this review and find a theater showing this film now!

5 rainbows - I'll need to find a spot for this in my Top 100 list. Absolutely flawless.