Keane

Star Review

One of 2006’s more welcome comebacks was that of American director Lodge Kerrigan, whose 1993 film Clean, Shaven remains one of the definitive screen studies of schizophrenia. This companion piece, produced by Steven Soderbergh, follows the unsmiling, haunted William Keane as he wanders the halls of the New York Port Transit Authority, harassing strangers and hassling himself whilst hunting the man or bus he believes took his young daughter away six months before.
Kerrigan locates real tension in what his unpredictable lead is going to do next, particularly when William befriends a single mother and appears to start functioning normally again. Lewis shrugs off his slightly-too-slick persona to deliver the first great performance of his career, making every one of Keane's paranoid delusions or irrational conclusions make sense in the context of the character. It's a performance, and a film, that adds significantly to our understanding of mental illness: here, but for the grace of God, goes every last one of us.

Mike McCahill on 18th December 2006

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Film Description

Featuring a tour-de-force performance from Damian Lewis, Keane is an intense study of a schizophrenic man who desperately seeks to find out what happened to his daughter, who disappeared when he was distracted at a New York bus terminal. Lewis is extraordinary in a hugely demanding role, and the audience is often in doubt as to whether his view can to be trusted. Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin is also superb as the daughter of a woman whom Lewis befriends.

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DVD Extras

• 2 discs. Trailer
• Steven Soderbergh alternate cut.

Film Details

Cast

Damian Lewis, Abigail Breslin

Technical Details