Review: In Key & Peele's 'keanu,' The True Gangster Has Paws

[...] is the question of "Keanu," Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele's satisfyingly ridiculous and consistently funny big-screen debut for the slyly disarming brand of humor they nimbly practiced on their recently ended sketch comedy series, "Key & Peele." Whereas some in their leap into movies opt for grander, swaggering personas, Key and Peele have instead chosen a movie centered on a cat named Keanu, who, in one dream sequence, is voiced by Keanu Reeves. Clarence and Rell unconvincingly improvise thuggish identities — Tectonic and Shark Tank, they spit out when asked for their names — but manage to be mistaken for fearsome hit men. The jokes come out of not just their poor gestures at being tough guys (when Cheddar's gang shares stories of bloodshed, Rell can only brag of seeing an early, exclusive screening of "The Blair Witch Project") but of the soft hearts within even murderous gangsters. Michaels, he of tight blue jeans and bleach blonde hair, looms large throughout the film, culminating in a surreal drug-induced sequence where Clarence is rapturously absorbed into the music video of "Faith." Keanu," a Warner Bros.