kitkorner
To start off I just want to say that this man does not have schizophrenia. I'm not sure if it got mixed up due to the fact that he directed another film where the main character had schizophrenia or if people can't tell the difference between mental illnesses and just went off of what this description said. Keane suffers from bipolar disorder, this is a very accurate representation of what it is like to have a manic episode. Now to put all that aside- this is an amazing movie. The hectic pace keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole thing but there is enough tender moments to keep things on an even keel. The cinematography is amazing and keeps us close to the character. I do wish the ending was a little different but that's just my opinion. I'm a huge fan of Lodge Kerrigan's work and if you can you should take the time to see a few of his other films. Like Gus Van Sant, he has a penchant for showing the lives of the type of people that are not usually represented on the big screen.
waltonadam
I bought this film second hand for £3.00. I would have spent a lot more. Every now and then you stumble across a film and you don't know why your attracted to it without knowing the content or even the cast, but it was probably the name of producer Steven Soderbergh that may have swayed me. I hadn't really seen Damian Lewis before in film but it is one of the best performances I have ever seen from an Englishman portraying an American, a flawless accent that is never in question. The main reason why I feel that it works so well is the scenes with Lewis alone are pure genius, using hand held cameras instantly changing angles to show the pain and mental torment that this person is going through as a result of the abduction of his daughter is so simple but the result is one of the best examples of realism I have ever seen on film. This film is far too short at approx 80 mins but you won't want them back. Its far from uplifting but neither is the world it represents. 9 out of ten
madamebrad
POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEADLike most films which eschew the typical trappings of Hollywood movies, Keane might not be for everyone. Pushing the envelope of cinema as an experience, Lodge Kerrigan gives us a story that is so intense, it threatens to swallow us up in its honesty and realness.Damian Lewis plays Keane, a man on the brink of homelessness and losing his mind. As the film opens, we see Keane frantically looking for Sophie, his young daughter who we gather has disappeared at the port authority, some months earlier. Beside himself with grief, despair and guilt, he searches for her in the way of someone who is obsessed with repetition. You get the feeling he's been doing the exact same circuit day in and day out without a break for months.Keane is a man who is clearly living in hell. This is as bad as it gets on earth; being cognizant enough to feel the pain of a loss like this while also being mentally unstable can only be described as hell on earth.For better or worse, the direction of the film is unrelenting and truly makes us experience Keane up close, and perhaps too personal. Uncomfortable scenes of self-talk, crying and cringe-inducing escapism via alcohol, drugs, violence and frantic sex with a stranger make the film hard to watch at times.As a woman and her young child make their way into Keane's tortured world, we begin to see a different side to Keane. A friendly, conscientious and polite young man emerges from the madness as he begins to focus on this child in front of him, perhaps as she's the same age as his own Sophie. Particularly while he's asked to care for her by the unstable mother, we see a likable, steady personality emerge. While the girl is with Keane, we see him blossom and this is where the only true linear part of Keane's world/story comes to fruition. Will Keane be able to hold on to reality long enough to pull himself away from the hell he's been immersed in? The intensity of the film (you are basically watching Lewis in every scene, and with a close up usually from the shoulders up) is relentless. But, isn't that true of life, itself? How often do we get to look away in real life? All too easily. This film gives us less than two hours of what it is like to be in the world of the mentally ill.Lewis is, in a word, extraordinary as Keane. In my estimation, his performance in this film is the best of his career. Or, anyone else's, for that matter. He never overdoes it and his eyes and face express and contort to give us even more of a realistic rendition of Keane's pain.Much has been made about Lewis's fairly clean cut appearance in the film and critics have said it belies the real face of mental illness. However, those of us who have seen schizophrenia in person know that one of the most heartbreaking and cruel parts of this condition is how normal one can look and seem on the surface. I believe the fact that Keane was not horribly grubby or dirty was a very deliberate choice on the filmmaker's part and it is one that I think is often misunderstood. The fact that Keane might, at any moment "snap out of it" and become "normal" is exactly what the real face of schizophrenia is all about.Also misunderstood is the "mystery" about what happened with Keane's daughter. Much conversation revolves around what really happened to her. Indeed, we aren't ever given solid proof that she existed. Taken at face value, we see a man who was probably struggling with manageable mental illness before something tragic happened to his daughter. Whether he lost her literally or was perhaps lost in a divorce is debatable. Theories of her completely not existing, while certainly possible, aren't probable. And, those who like to talk of Keane having killed his young daughter are clearly missing the point of the entire film and should probably watch it again.Ultimately, if you're uncomfortable watching this film, it is understandable. However, missing it means missing out on one of the most powerful, realistic and personal films made.
PaulLondon
keane is not an easy film to enjoy, but it is worth sticking with this intense, almost claustrophobic, character study about a man wandering the streets looking for the daughter he says was abducted a year before.Lewis' central performance fills the film and is little short of remarkable; slipping between despair, madness and anguish; finding love and wandering the streets; suppressing his psychological tics and mumbling incoherently, he is the film's emotional glue. Dramatically,it is not all plausible and there are a couple of mind wandering longueurs but it is, ultimately, a powerful piece of film that packs a subtle punch
