Warner Bros. Pictures
In the late part of the spring, you pretty much could not watch anything on TV without seeing a commercial for Keanu featuring the comedy duo of Key and Peele and the darned cutest kitten even to appear on the big screen. Really, it was that cute. Key and Peele had a pretty solid fan base with their Comedy Central sketch show of the same name, so it seemed this film with its combination of funny and adorable would have hit a home run at the box office.
It didn’t. The film only scored a third place opening behind The Jungle Book and The Huntsman: Winter’s War, but it was the top new release of the weekend, just beating out Mother’s Day. The film only went on to earn $20.5 million on a $15 million budget and a 77% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes (although the audience score was surprisingly lower at 61%). We even scored the film three out of three stars in our review, so it’s a real head-scratcher as to why the film failed to catch on with audiences.
But now you have a chance to see what you missed as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings Keanu home on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD. The story is fairly simple — down on his luck Rell (Peele) finds a small kitten at his doorstep, not knowing that said kitten has just escaped from the scene of a major drug/gang war incident and various shady characters will stop at nothing to get the cat back. Arriving home after a night of cheering from his friend Clarence (Key), he finds his house ransacked and the kitten, which he has named Keanu, missing. The film follows the pair as they go undercover to try to retrieve Keanu from a dangerous drug lord, and trying their hardest to convince everyone that they are the feared Allentown Brothers. The movie has some big laughs, a hilarious cameo from a well-known celebrity (hint: she’s the wife of someone from the Marvel films), and that darned cat (actually seven of them).
The Warner Blu-ray features a 1080p image that has nice deep blacks (important for a film that takes place mostly at night and in dark areas) and a color palette that accurately replicates the cinematic presentation. The image is sharp and clear, and viewers will get a kick out of a drug-induced dream sequence that replicates the look of very low-definition video. The disk includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack that doesn’t give the surrounds a lot of use, but when the film’s action sequences and music kick in, so do those speakers. Dialog is clear, front and center as it should be so there are no complaints with either the audio or video presentation.
Unfortunately, with the film under-performing at the box office (and perhaps no one expecting it to bring in big bucks), the disk’s bonus features are kept to a minimum (including the lack of the film’s theatrical trailer).
- Keanu: My First Movie (3:05) features Key, Peele and co-star Jamar Malachi Neighbors each having separate conversations with the film’s star, giving the kitten pointers on what it’s like making movies.
- Deleted Scenes (15:13) – Mostly inconsequential scenes only available as a Play All feature with a title before each scene. The one of most note, “It’s Not Over,” features Rell and Clarence at the police station trying to get someone to go to drug lord Cheddar’s strip club to get Keanu back.
- Gag Reel (5:39) featuring the typical flubbed lines that offer a few laugh, and even funnier moments with an uncooperative kitten.
Keanu may not be for everyone’s tastes, but it is funny and worth a look. And who doesn’t love watching cat videos?
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment generously provided Hotchka with a Blu-ray copy of the film for reviewing purposes.
Keanu has a run time of 1 hour 40 minute, and is rated R for violence, language throughout, drug use and sexuality/nudity.
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