The product of a barely known independent filmmaker, funded by a budget of less than million and starring "that guy from Band of Brothers", Keane was barely noticed and latterly ignored. I must admit, I too took far too long discovering this gem.
Lodge Kerrigan's psychological drama focusses entirely on the exploits of a New Yorker, William Keane (Damian Lewis), a former painter who's young daughter was abducted from a bus station almost a year earlier. The now borderline schziophrenic Keane juggles a self destructive life of drinking heavily, snorting coke and trying to solve his child's disappearance, funded by a welfare cheque for his mental disorders and fuelled by a bizzare notion of pattern in tragedy.
The film opens with a harrowing return to the bus station by Keane, showing a newspaper clipping to anyone willing to listen, as he asks if anyone has seen his baby girl. He talks to himself, reasoning out loud potential avenues of investigation that lead him to dead ends. We see a crazed man, as do the passers by.
We gradually learn more of Keane. He lives a chaotic existence, divorced from the mother of his child, booked in a motel but occasionally sleeping rough, gripped by panic attacks and episodes of paranoia. He fuels his quest by cans of beer, shots of vodka and coke if he can find it.
Through his travails, and his bizarre existence, he befriends a single mother (Amy Ryan, of Gone Baby Gone fame) and her daughter, Kira (Abigail Breslin). When he is left to look after Kira for a length of time, he begins to establish a bond, but cannot shake off his instability.
As much as Kerrigan's work deserves praise, and he creates a suberb motion we can all associate with, the real kudos here has to be given to the star of a one man show.
Lewis, an English actor with little exposure, provides an incredible, unforgettable and haunting perfomance as Keane, a man who seems only anchored when given the greatest of responsibilities. He brings a levity to the story which means we don't immediately lose personal interest in his guilt fuelled briefings and missions, but instead see him as a normal guy. You don't see him as the crazy man you walk past, but instead as a friend who has lost it. You want to hug and reassure him, not ignore and pity him.
And kudos to Kerrigan. With a single camera approach, echoing documentary style, we see Keane and his struggles in all too human light, unflinching in it's honesty and uncompromising in it's stance (there's no score to accompany the drama). It's a single man's single minded journey to nowhere, fuelled by a mission without hope.
Keane is truly a disturbing, difficult and challenging film, boasting a brilliant set up and execution and carried by a wonderful, career defining turn by an actor who needs serious recognition. For a one man show to thrive, it needs that one man to thrive. Lewis provides an astonishing turn and catapults an idea into must see through never obvious pathos and nuance. If you see it for anything, see it for Damian Lewis's performance.
9/10
