KEANE. (2006)
Directed by Lodge Kerrigan
Like BRODRE, KEANE is an acting masterclass with a brilliant performance by Abigail Breslin, and a staggering one from Damian Lewis. Lodge Kerrigan’s first film since 1998’s CLAIRE DOLAN is a claustrophobic and unsettling character study, of a man who is increasingly a danger to himself and others, so grief-stricken is he by the disappearance of his daughter years earlier.
His relationship with a single mother (Amy Ryan from GONE BABY GONE) is particularly uneasy territory as we begin to question his sanity, and the reasons for his relationship with the woman, and her young daughter (Breslin). Even as our doubts about Keane begin to become more significant, in Lewis’ hands he remains a believable and sympathetic character.
It’s, simply, a brilliant performance, one of the decade’s very best, from an actor whose career hasn’t quite taken off in the manner in which he deserves. It dominates the film, although not at the expense of his co-stars, and there’s a genuine sense of not knowing what is to come next. It’s a brilliant film, although not one that I can imagine wanting to watch more than once.
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