Keith (2008)

This was recommended to me by Dizzy a while ago and I loved it from the first time I saw it. It’s completely and utterly unforgettable.

To the outside world, Natalie Anderson (Elizabeth Harnois, also seen in Ten Inch Hero) has the perfect life: honor student, year book editor, star athlete and high school’s reigning social queen. Then she meets Keith Zetterstrom (Jesse McCartney), her secretive, enigmatic chem lab partner, who lures her on a series of strange adventures in his old yellow pickup truck. The more secretive Keith is about himself, the more determined Natalie is to figure out who he really is and what makes him at odds with the world.

That’s pretty much all I can say without giving much away. This is one of those films that has a misleading trailer, as both Dizzy and I discovered, so avoid that if you’re looking for more information on the movie. Just watch it, trust me.

First and foremost I have to say that I will personally behead anyone who judges this movie for the fact that it has Jesse McCartney as the lead actor. I wasn’t keen on him either, believe me, but this is one of the most beautiful characters I have ever seen brought to the screen and it is 95% thanks to Jesse. Keith is a streetsmart, joke-cracking wiseass, and for a very long time you have no idea why he is the way he is. I will say that he – thankfully – never crosses the line to full-on douchebag, so you never actually hate him, but he is one of those characters that some people wish they were like, and others hate for being the way he is. I have to say, that when times get tough, he is one of the characters that I use as inspiration for my clever comebacks. Others include Dean Winchester and The Phouka, but that’s not the point of this review.

The film is a slow-moving film, so don’t go into it expecting drama and epic events. There is drama, and enough angst to fill an ocean, but it arrives at its own pace, just when it needs to happen. That being said, I have yet to find anyone who has seen this film who would call it boring. There’s just something about it; maybe it’s the way that the characters are easy to relate to. Sure, Natalie may quite easily have been the girl you hated in high school, but you can relate to her BECAUSE of that. The film gives just enough backstory for everything to be answered – in due time, for those foaming at the mouth from scene 3 – and it’s not a chore to fill in the rest. Perhaps that’s another reason why I like the movie, it makes you think a lot more than you realize until the credits start rolling. This is one of the few films that I thought about constantly after I finished it… for about a week I could think of nothing else.

This is a romance movie. I know a lot of people cringe when they hear that, but there’s not really a way to gloss over that, it’s obvious. The good thing about it is that it’s done tastefully. Many high school romance movies are awful to watch because of how cheesy and predictable they are: Boy meets girl, girl doesn’t like boy, girl decides she likes boy, boy and girl get together, boy and girl encounter drama, boy and girl get over drama and live happily ever after. It’s a good comfortable cookie cutter model and perfect for when you need just that kind of romance. Keith has those aspects, but it doesn’t make them the forefront of the story. The characters are the forefront; their thoughts and feelings, the way they act and why… Keith is not a perfect cookie, it’s a brownie. Same ingredients, different taste.

There are no special effects in this movie because it doesn’t need any. It’s a low budget film that works with what it has and does great things with it. If I wasn’t a movie dork film school graduate, I wouldn’t have noticed half the continuity errors or reuse of certain shots. Believe me, unless you’re scoping for them, they won’t find you. The music is just that: music. It fits in the background where it should be and sets the mood, just like it should, instead of taking center stage. Have I ranted long enough about how perfect this film is for me?

Keith made it to my top ten from the first watch and it hasn’t moved since. In fact, I think it moved up and displaced another film recently. It gets a solid 8.5/10 from me and I think I will love it forever. It is without a doubt one of my favourite romantic films of all time. Girls are certainly encouraged to watch it, and I would quite happily recommend this to guys too. It’s not as chick flicky as one thinks. And again I will reiterate: do NOT pass this movie by if you’re not a fan of Jesse McCartney. For Christ’s sake, just pretend you never heard Beautiful Soul and move the fuck on. Watch it. You won’t be disappointed.

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