3 Short Paragraphs: Keanu

2016, Peter Atencio (Key & Peele) -- download

Keanu Reeves is the nicest celebrity in Hollywood. What? You didn't know that? Of course you knew that, so why wouldn't a pair of nice suburban guys name their kitten after Keanu? Keegan-Michael Key (no, not Keenan Ivory Wayans) and Jordan Peele are a comedy duo Key & Peele, and again, no not Keenan & Peele. This is not the post where I will muse on the state of Black in North America, but suffice it to say a lot of their comedy seems to be about making Black Comedy accessible to middle of the road white people. Or at the very least, diverging from most white people think Black Comedy should be. They also did a hilarious D&D sketch.

The movie continues that, as the two suburban cousins get mixed up in what is typical (???) urban culture, i.e. drugs and gangsta antics. Keanu, the kitten of a fallen drug lord, finds his way into the hands of an emotionally broken Rell, the classic pop culture nerd - they bond. His cousin Wallace, a straight laced danger-free repressive ends up joining Rell on his hunt for his kitten, when Keanu is stolen by drug dealers who raid Rell's apartment, instead of the pot dealers next door. Hilarity ensues.

The movie is rather hit and miss, joke wise, but these guys pull off the fish out of water quite masterfully. Oh, it's easy to toss two white suburban kids into a strip bar full of gangsters, and expect hyuck-hyucks, but despite what the parents in my own white suburb thought, not every black kid would feel at ease there. Alas, they have a kitten to save! And the whole scene with an unhinged Anna Faris as herself is worth the price of the download.