Release CalendarDVD & Blu-ray ReleasesTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsIn TheatersComing SoonMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysLGBTQ+ Pride MonthSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Keanu

  • 20162016
  • RR
  • 1h 40m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
49K
YOUR RATING
Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in Keanu (2016)
Clarence and Rell are two cousins who live in the city but are far from streetwise. When Rell's beloved kitten, Keanu, is catnapped, the hopelessly straight-laced pair must impersonate ruthless killers in order to infiltrate a street gang and retrieve the purloined feline.
Play trailer2:31
23 Videos
99+ Photos
  • Action
  • Comedy
  • Crime
When the adorable kitten of an L.A. crime kingpin unexpectedly enters the life of two cousins, they will have to go through tough gangs, pitiless hit-men, and ruthless drug dealers who all c... Read allWhen the adorable kitten of an L.A. crime kingpin unexpectedly enters the life of two cousins, they will have to go through tough gangs, pitiless hit-men, and ruthless drug dealers who all claim him, to get him back. How hard can it be?When the adorable kitten of an L.A. crime kingpin unexpectedly enters the life of two cousins, they will have to go through tough gangs, pitiless hit-men, and ruthless drug dealers who all claim him, to get him back. How hard can it be?
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
49K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Peter Atencio
  • Writers
    • Jordan Peele
    • Alex Rubens
  • Stars
    • Keegan-Michael Key
    • Jordan Peele
    • Tiffany Haddish
Top credits
  • Director
    • Peter Atencio
  • Writers
    • Jordan Peele
    • Alex Rubens
  • Stars
    • Keegan-Michael Key
    • Jordan Peele
    • Tiffany Haddish
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 145User reviews
    • 152Critic reviews
    • 63Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 wins & 5 nominations

    Videos23

    Trailer #1
    Trailer 2:31
    Trailer #1
    Red Band Trailer
    Trailer 2:50
    Red Band Trailer
    Keanu's Endless Summer or Reeves Reloaded
    Clip 3:09
    Keanu's Endless Summer or Reeves Reloaded
    Blips
    Clip 0:55
    Blips
    They Are Going To Murder Us
    Clip 1:18
    They Are Going To Murder Us
    Gangster Pet
    Clip 1:07
    Gangster Pet
    Two Things About Yourself
    Clip 1:00
    Two Things About Yourself
    Everything Happens For A Reason
    Clip 0:37
    Everything Happens For A Reason
    Cheddar
    Clip 0:56
    Cheddar
    Jordan Peele
    Interview 6:37
    Jordan Peele
    Peter Atencio
    Interview 5:57
    Peter Atencio
    Keegan Michael Key
    Interview 5:18
    Keegan Michael Key

    Photos114

    Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in Keanu (2016)
    Will Forte in Keanu (2016)
    Keegan-Michael Key in Keanu (2016)
    Will Forte in Keanu (2016)
    Nia Long and Keegan-Michael Key in Keanu (2016)
    Method Man in Keanu (2016)
    Jordan Peele and Tiffany Haddish in Keanu (2016)
    Luis Guzmán in Keanu (2016)
    Method Man, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Tiffany Haddish, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Jason Mitchell, and Jamar Malachi Neighbors in Keanu (2016)
    Jordan Peele in Keanu (2016)
    Keanu (2016)
    Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in Keanu (2016)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Keegan-Michael Key
    Keegan-Michael Key
    • Clarence Goobrilas Clarence Goobril…
    Jordan Peele
    Jordan Peele
    • Rell Williamsas Rell Williams…
    Tiffany Haddish
    Tiffany Haddish
    • Hi-Cas Hi-C
    Method Man
    Method Man
    • Cheddaras Cheddar
    Darrell Britt-Gibson
    Darrell Britt-Gibson
    • Trunkas Trunk
    Jason Mitchell
    Jason Mitchell
    • Budas Bud
    Jamar Malachi Neighbors
    Jamar Malachi Neighbors
    • Stitchesas Stitches
    Luis Guzmán
    Luis Guzmán
    • Baconas Bacon
    Will Forte
    Will Forte
    • Hulkaas Hulka
    Nia Long
    Nia Long
    • Hannahas Hannah
    Rob Huebel
    Rob Huebel
    • Spenceras Spencer
    Madison Wolfe
    Madison Wolfe
    • Alexisas Alexis
    Jordyn A. Davis
    • Belleas Belle
    James Yeargain
    • Donnieas Donnie
    Brittany Seymour
    • Rachelas Rachel
    Richard Holden
    • Detective Mankas Detective Mank
    Nadiyah Skyy Taylor
    • Galaxyas Galaxy
    Susan McBrien
    Susan McBrien
    • Hulka's Momas Hulka's Mom
    • Director
      • Peter Atencio
    • Writers
      • Jordan Peele
      • Alex Rubens
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

    More like this

    Key and Peele
    8.3
    Key and Peele
    Let's Be Cops
    6.4
    Let's Be Cops
    Us
    6.8
    Us
    Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
    6.7
    Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
    Get Out
    7.7
    Get Out
    Untitled Keegan-Michael Key/Jordan Peele Project
    Obama
    2.6
    Obama
    Get Hard
    6.0
    Get Hard
    Night School
    5.6
    Night School
    Nope
    Nope
    Hot Rod
    6.7
    Hot Rod
    Substitute Teacher

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This movie has several hit songs from George Michael, who died the same year as it was released. He died on December 25, 2016.
    • Goofs
      When the kitten escapes during the action scenes, you'll notice that his tail is upright. That is the sign of a happy cat. If a cat was truly scared, the tail would be low to the ground, and very fluffed up.
    • Quotes

      Clarence Goobril: Wordness to the turdness.

    • Crazy credits
      SPOILER: After the end credits, Oil and Smoke simultaneously revive.
    • Connections
      Featured in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Keegan-Michael Key - Jordan Peele/Run River North/Will Calhoun (2016)
    • Soundtracks
      Faith
      Written and performed by George Michael

      Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd & Epic Records

      By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

    User reviews145

    Review
    Top review
    8/10
    It's fresh, silly, and smart as hell
    When it comes to being a 'gangsta' (or um 'gangster' is the way to say it but I usually see it spelled the former way), people tend to come in that lingo of "H.A.M" (Hard as a Moter-effer). If you want to be part of a crew doing things like slinging drugs or hanging in the back of a strip club, you got to have a walk, you got to have the right talk, you got to know that guns will be part of it and probably doing drugs from time to time as well (and if you got to plug a few people along the way, well, all the better for street cred). But this is also something we see a lot in movies and television (even, of course, The Wire had its gangster elements in a strip club/drug slinging world), and it's very much in both a real world context and the movies in tandem that Key and Peele come in with their characters in the extremely, surprisingly funny Keanu.

    The trailer promises some fish-out-of-water fun, where the comedy duo (coming to movies for the first time following a successful Comedy Central series also skewering race and pop culture in expert ways), playing basically middle-class dorks, have to descend into the criminal underworld of the 17th Street Blips (you can find them on 17th Street, naturally) in order to retrieve Peele's character's cat dubbed the title character (posters for other Warner brothers HAM classics like Heat and New Jack City, the latter being ironic for a couple of reasons, don his walls). There were a couple of things I knew I could expect - George Michael jokes to be sure, though not quite to the extent where Key gets the others in the gangster crew, well, into that s*** - but I didn't expect that they could keep up the humor throughout. They can, and they do.

    I think what helps is that you believe this action-thriller movie world. It has an authenticity not unlike Hot Fuzz; this is made by people who, I suspect, really love these scuzzy, ultra-violent action flicks (and the whole angle of the cat comes from John Wick, albeit it's not quite *that* violent, few things are). There's an affection that seeps through, and it's also telling a story that makes it so that Key and Peele aren't just one ting throughout. They can both be comic relief or they can be the straight guy; something in a scene or happening just before it will trigger one of them to get even 'more' into character. That last part is a lot of what drives the humor, and it helps that a) they commit to these 'characters' within their characters, and b) there are other "roles" being played by others. With the exception of Method Man's Cheddar, almost none of the major or supporting characters is quite who they seem to be.

    This is also a joy when you watch Tarantino flicks, though here the tone's more like a Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle: the tone is constantly irreverent, and often the laughs - massive ones, from the guts many times over - come from these guys being funny together, having perfect timing, and that they keep on coming up against greater and more dangerous obstacles (i.e. those two silent creepy killers that set the chain of events in the film at the start). But the strain of satire on class and culture is the other thing keeping the comedy and even the action fresh and alive.

    The attention to how ridiculous these movies can get is one thing (again, Hot Fuzz), and some of the casting helps a great deal with that (two words: Anna Faris, good God she nearly steals the show, but just nearly). But I can't help but keep thinking about how it's so fresh to see what it means to be "black" (in quotes, certainly) in culture and in the movies and then reflected back in life again. Showing just a smidgen of being a dork is a no-no, but what's refreshing is how the others in the van start bopping their heads to George Michael and one of them gets a tattoo with his name (!) It commits to everything it's going for.

    In other words, in Keanu being a H.A.M. drug-slinging killer may be one thing, and acting like it is another, and to be both is worth a lot of comedy (especially when it comes to these guys when they, you know, get to having to deal with things like guns that they're clearly over their head with). How does one get into that mind-set? Watch a lot of movies and try to make sure one curbs the Richard-Pryor-imitating a-white-guy-voice. And if there's a cuter thing than Keanu in movies this year then I'll have to resign as a film critic and get one myself!
    helpful•20
    12
    • Quinoa1984
    • May 4, 2016

    FAQ1

    • Is the cat hurt?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 29, 2016 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Cat Boys
    • Filming locations
      • 2839 N Robertson St., New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
    • Production companies
      • Artists First
      • Monkeypaw Productions
      • New Line Cinema
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $15,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $20,591,853
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $9,453,224
      • May 1, 2016
    • Gross worldwide
      • $20,651,333
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 40 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele in Keanu (2016)
    Top Gap
    What is the Italian language plot outline for Keanu (2016)?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    View list
    List
    2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
    See the full list
    View list
    List
    The Best Movies and Shows to Watch in June
    See the full list

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    • Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • IMDb Developer
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Interest-Based Ads
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2022 by IMDb.com, Inc.