secondtake Keane (2004)This is a one man show all the way, and young, slightly crazed father played by Damian Lewis gives it his intense best. Almost nothing happens for 100 minutes, nothing in the sense of plot development, so it really is up to Lewis to make his troubles come alive. His problem is that his daughter disappeared when he was with her in a bus station, and a year later he is still looking for her, trying to recreated the events that surrounded the mystery.But what strikes the viewer is maybe impatience, not with the narrative, but with the presentation of it. The movie ends up being a recreation of the tortured mind, the angst, the regrets, of this young father. And so the movie recreates that anxiety in the viewer. It seems impressive on some detached level, but it doesn't quiet work. The shaky camera, the constant striving and looking, the endless lack of progress, makes for unpleasant viewing. That doesn't mean it isn't interesting, but it isn't enjoyable. Oddly enough, many movies about terrible things manage to rise above their terribleness and the movie becomes moving, or enlightening, or simply aesthetic. "Keane" doesn't try to do any of those things.It would help if Lewis were able to create a more sympathetic type. You do want him to succeed, but you also don't want to really spend an hour and a half with him like this. When a second character, a young woman, arrives halfway through, it seems like a crack in the gloom, but then she doesn't become a major character. Her daughter, gradually, does, but only in a symbolic way--we never quite get to know or sympathize with the daughter directly.This is all more analysis than criticism, really. But it's a heads up for people looking for a certain kind of emotional drama. A movie like "Julie" has a filmic richness that takes an even worse situation about a child and makes it gripping. "Keane" remains in the mind and emotional troubles of its main character, and in Lewis's hands that's not really enough.

Sanou_san I was staggered when I saw the film considering Damian Lewis and Abigail Breslin is in it. I got to read a lot of reviews about this independent film, where mostly they express this movie as wearisome at points and inconceivable at some points as well. But I beg to disagree with them, I mean it is one of the best independent movie I've ever seen, honestly! Everything went natural for all the characters, the settings, the scopes and people around were ample enough to describe this film as very simple but effectively genuine. Damian Lewis was certainly superb in playing his role as a schizophrenic father , Abigail Breslin as what I've read and heard was excellent as well! She certainly is stern, straightforward and professional towards her career (and I was convinced well with her talent watching her perform at 2006 "Little Miss Sunshine" which was also terrifically outstanding). In the film I admit it wasn't a very compellingly drama movie that would haul instantly viewers being pulled through the story. Admittedly I felt blends of anxiety, bliss, excitement, compassion and confusion towards the story and the characters (Especially William Keane played by Damian Lewis), and speaking of him, I was also astounded how he managed to play a character completely different (not that totally different) from some of his movies. He's a rare actor, and watching him strut his talents is a rare opportunity as well. His character even scared me during the film on what would be his plans for Kira (Abigail Breslin) whom she learned to love throughout. His behavior and attitude as well is unpredictable. At the first 30 minutes of the film, you would see him struggling with his sickness like talking, whispering, deciding all by himself. Then when meeting Kira and Lynn (her mother played by Amy Ryan) his soft, gentle and fatherly figure came to surface and just glide smoothly throughout the film. My heart was moved, though the movie is not that unthinkably striking, but I absolutely loved the story. Even though at the ending, it seems short, but I guess anyone would already predict what would be the conclusion, it went fine. The very small thing that lacks in the movie was the sound effects, or background musics. The opening doesn't even have one, and even the final credits. However doesn't really matter, specifically for a low-budgeted independent film shot for only 32 days, how cool is that?

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.

come2whereimfrom Firstly Damian Lewis is superb as William Keane I have never seen a portrayal of madness from someone who wasn't actually mad. He twitches and cries and when not whispering to himself shouts out randomly. The film is him and he is the film. The camera never leaves his side and most of the focus is close in on his immensely expressive face which give the whole film a kind of claustrophobic tunnel vision, not only does it add to the fragility of the character it is an uneasy watch as a viewer. The camera work has Soderbergh written all over it (he is executive producer) and there is a real sense that Kerrigan has paid attention to the master. Opening in a bus depot Will shuffles around looking for his lost daughter, asking everyone and anyone if they have seen her, I found myself feeling his desperation and when he wanders aimlessly through a busy road screaming her name you can't help but feel his pain. As the story progresses he meets and connects with Lynn who is staying in the same hotel and has a daughter the same age as his would be. Never flinching from the reality of madness Will's motives are never really clear as to why he is doing some of the things like looking after Lynn's daughter, buying her things, taking her out, is he trying to replace the daughter he lost? Or is he insane and grooming her for a later abduction? And that is the films trick it gets under your skin but you are never really sure why, should you feel sorry for Will as he curls in a ball on a grass verge in the rain or should your be apprehensive that in his mental state he might do something horrific to this innocent child. For the first time in ages this film pulled me in and gripped me really tight I forgot I was in a room full of people and felt like I was alone, alone like the character in the film. Here its is not the script, music or even the washed out colours that make it (although they all add to the atmosphere) no here it is the startling performance from Lewis and the unnerving camera work that suck you into the world of Keane, spin you round and spit you out without any real answers leaving you emotionally touched, deeply saddened and strangely curious.