"Keane" DVD Review

"Keane" depends solely on the acting talent of Damian Lewis. The slightest misstep, the tiniest error in judgment and this film would crash and burn. But Lewis avoids all actor-ish pitfalls and gives a simply amazing performance that, in and of itself, makes "Keane" worth checking out.

"Keane" opens with frantic father, William Keane (Damian Lewis), searching for his lost daughter. We quickly learn she was taken from him at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York months earlier. He's totally torn up by her loss, almost to the point of not being able to function.

Keane obsessively tries to retrace the moments leading up to his daughter's abduction but becomes increasingly unstable. Living out of a hotel room, Keane succumbs to the pull of cocaine, alcohol and random sex as a way of lessening his anguish.

Just as it appears he's reached the bottom with no hope of rescue, Keane befriends a mother and her daughter who are down on their luck and are holed up in the hotel room next to his. The mother (Amy Ryan) places her young daughter (Abigail Breslin) temporarily in Keane's custody, and what plays out as a result of that is highly disturbing.

Writer/director Lodge Kerrigan's style places the camera in Lewis' face, capturing even the most minute move made by his star in such a frenetic way that it's almost to the point of being unwatchable.

Enough can't be said about the performance of Damian Lewis. The British actor's American accent is dead-on and he seems to have become this character rather than simply playing him. To say Lewis' is an astonishing performance would be putting it mildly, that's just how good he is.

Watching "Keane" is an emotionally harrowing experience and one to undertake only when you're in the mood for something dark and gritty.