Keane is played by Damian Lewis, a British actor recently seen in "An Unfinished Life" as the abusive boyfriend of Jennifer Lopez. Here he inhabits an edge of madness that Lodge Kerrigan understands with a fierce sympathy. There is no reason for us to believe that Keane (or his daughter) would be better off if he found her. The camera regards him mercilessly, and his performance involves us because he portrays not hopeless madness but his drive to escape his demons.
In a cheap flophouse, he meets Lynn (Amy Ryan) and her 7-year-old daughter, Kira (Abigail Breslin). They're down and out. Her husband has abandoned them, maybe to seek work, maybe to escape. Keane receives disability checks, and gives Lynn money, which she needs badly enough to accept, especially since he is in a sweet, calm phase, and doesn't want anything for it, or at least not anything she might not be willing to provide.
Lynn can't pick up Kira after school. Will Keane meet her, bring her home, and keep an eye on her from 4 to 7? He will. He does. They go to McDonald's. They go ice-skating. This Keane might have made a good father. Which Keane is it? The mother goes seeking her husband, and entrusts Kira to Keane overnight. What will happen? The suspense grows not out of the child's danger, if she is in any, but out of Keane's fears about himself. He has been going through a calm period. He is terrified of the responsibility he has suddenly been given. Does he confuse Kira with his lost daughter?
Kerrigan's films create worlds of personal obsession. After "Clean, Shaven," he made "Claire Dolan" (1998), the story of an Irish prostitute (played by Katrin Cartlidge, 1961-2002, her early death from a sudden infection a sad loss after great performances). She works in Manhattan, wants to leave the life, must escape a dangerous pimp. In all three films, characters on the margins seek children they think will bring them happiness.
Some movies shed light on others. Regarding "Keane," I think of "Flightplan," the Jodie Foster thriller that opened a week earlier. Both films are excellent in their own ways, seeking their own intentions, aimed at different audiences. Both begin with a lost daughter. The characters played by Jodie Foster and Damian Lewis realize that if they are perceived as mad, all hope is lost for their search. Both try to function in a way that will allow them to continue.
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