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Keane (2004)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:58
Fresh:48
Rotten:10
Average Rating:7.1/10
Consensus: The scrutinizing camera angles of Keane might at first feel too close for comfort, but this powerful portrait of a man distraught by the abduction of his child plumbs the depths of mental illness and the corners of fleabag hotels in an intimate and touching examination of the seedier side of life.
Synopsis: British actor Damian Lewis (BAND OF BROTHERS) gives a stunning lead performance in Lodge Kerrigan's powerful drama KEANE. He stars as William Keane, a man whose daughter was recently abducted at... British actor Damian Lewis (BAND OF BROTHERS) gives a stunning lead performance in Lodge Kerrigan's powerful drama KEANE. He stars as William Keane, a man whose daughter was recently abducted at the Port Authority in Manhattan, so he patrols the bus depot, recreating in his mind exactly how it happened to see if he can figure out who took her or where she might be. He talks to himself, shouts suddenly, and looks over his shoulder with fear and paranoia, an edgy, twitchy, wholly unnerving, and remarkable performance. When he befriends a down-on-her-luck woman (Amy Ryan) and her young daughter (Abigail Breslin), it is hard to know whether he is just being helpful or whether he has some kind of ulterior motive, as the young girl is about the same age as his missing daughter. Kerrigan makes no judgments about Keane; although it is clear he is suffering from some kind of mental illness, in some ways he represents an everyman. The talented writer-director lets the tale tell itself; there is no score, and he uses only natural sound and lighting. Some of the film was even written while on location in order to make it yet more realistic, which adds to both its horror and its glory. KEANE is like no other movie ever made on the subject of child abduction, a grittily authentic film that will stay with viewers for a very long time. [More]
Starring: Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Tina Holmes
Starring: Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin, Amy Ryan, Tina Holmes, Stephen Henderson
Director: Lodge Kerrigan
Director: Lodge Kerrigan
Screenwriter: Lodge Kerrigan
Producer: Andrew Fierberg
Studio: Magnolia Pictures
Reviews for Keane
Only Kerrigan's previous Clean, Shaven surpasses Keane as a sympathetic study of a man unravelled.
[Lewis] immerses himself so deeply in Keane's psyche and skin that you easily forget this is acting, not real life.
The film achieves a dramatic intensity that is both admirable and frustrating.
Aside from Lewis's excellent acting, there's little reason to spend two hours with Keane.
Lewis makes Keane's paranoia our paranoia. Kerrigan limits our world to his world. And that's how this grimly shot, roughly felt drama pulls us in.
When it comes to an emotional payoff at the end, unlike most Hollywood films, it has earned it.
The role of Keane is a tall order, as he's onscreen for every frame of the film, but Lewis is just brilliant, holding our attention and ultimately our compassion for a deeply troubled man.
A psycho-underworld tour de force like Irreversible or The Machinist, impressive as far as it goes (not far), single-minded but without enough on its mind, a gimmick flick.
The entire second half of the film...is unbearably tense....Lewis, whose performance is the overwhelming center of the piece, deserves a large share of the credit for making the entire thing so grueling.
Lodge Kerrigan is one of the great, though largely unheralded, filmmakers of our time.
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