Director Kerrigan has clearly done his homework. It sure looks to me, a person who believes that the Dardenne Brothers (Luc and Jean-Pierre), the French speaking Belgian film makers, are the most interesting filmmakers in the world today, that Kerrigan thinks so, too. He has got down proper the semi-documentary technique that the Belgian Brothers perfected in "La Promesse," "Rosetta," "Le Fils," and "L'Enfant." The camera follows the main character solely. We see that person, usually in close-up. The camera will occasionally swing away to show that person's point-of-view or to show who he is talking to, but the camera is mostly on the character's face or looking over the shoulder at where he/she is going. There is no musical soundtrack (even in the opening titles and closing credits) but there is a carefully prepared mix of city sounds and background noises. Luckily, Kerrigan has not just aped a technique, but has also tapped into the same kind of sympathetic, humanistic observation of behavior and optimism about the human race that the Dardennes bring to their stories.<br /><br />William Keane is a part-time street person who suffers from schizophrenia. He haunts Grand Central Station trying to get passers-by to look at a picture of a little girl in a newspaper clipping. "Have you seen this girl?" People hurry away. He washes up in rest rooms. He sometimes sleeps outdoors, not noticing the rain. He imagines that kidnap scenarios are going on in the station. He frantically mutters to himself about the growing danger around him. He attacks a bystander, throwing a couple of punches before walking quickly away. Sometimes he has quiet periods when he will use a disability check to buy himself some shelter in a seedy extended stay hotel.<br /><br />Like a certain Academy award winning crowd pleaser from a few years ago, "Keane" tackles the question, "Can a schizophrenic eventually be able to discern his own visions from reality even if he stills sees the visions?" However, "Keane" is about real person, as brought to life by the fine (but largely unrecognized) British actor, Damian Lewis. Anyone who has daily experience with street people can see the truth of Lewis' performance. My Lovely Wife has worked as a nurse's aide in a psych ward of a big city hospital also confirms the truthfulness of Lewis' work. What a marvelous difference from Ron Howard's tear-jerking mush and Russell Crowe's hammy, over-the-top performance of twitches and jerks! "Keane" slowly develops a story out of this man's circumstances that brings him to one crucial moment of decision and a powerful resolution in the final second of the film. I absolutely loved "Keane" and highly recommend it.