Review: A Journey into the Duality of Alicia Keys

This cover image released by RCA Records shows "Keys," the latest release by Alicia Keys. (RCA via AP)
This cover image released by RCA Records shows "Keys," the latest release by Alicia Keys. (RCA via AP)
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Review: A Journey into the Duality of Alicia Keys

This cover image released by RCA Records shows "Keys," the latest release by Alicia Keys. (RCA via AP)
This cover image released by RCA Records shows "Keys," the latest release by Alicia Keys. (RCA via AP)

In Alicia Keys’ latest album, the R&B artist gives us an inside look at the duality of her creative process. With her album titled “KEYS”, the 15-time Grammy-winning artist breaks down her album into two versions giving listeners the chance to take in her classical side with “Original” and the more upbeat songs on “Unlocked” featuring producer Mike Will Made-It.

But there’s no need to pick a side.

With “KEYS,” the piano-playing singer takes us through the ups and downs of love and her relationship with her husband, record producer Swizz Beatz, who collaborated with her on the album and is featured by her side in the “Best of Me” music video.

The star, who is known as of late for her barefaced and stripped-down image, is now basking in all her greatness on “KEYS” as she shows off her vocals with elegance and grandeur. She stays true to her piano-playing roots throughout the album as she endeavors to make a name for herself among the greats while paying homage to them.

In “Best of Me″ (Originals), Keys gives a nod to Sade by sampling “Cherish The Day” but adds her own smoothness to the mellow song.

“You get the side of me,” she sings. “I would hold back and not reveal.”

Keys makes arrangements similar to Etta James or Billie Holiday in “Is it Insane “ — perfect for unwinding by the fire this holiday season. In her ode to “Nat King Cole,” her voice builds into a cinematic crescendo. The song of the same name on the other side of the album featuring Lil Wayne gives it a dynamic contrast.

While some of her features on the “Unlocked” side fall short, “Come For Me” featuring Khalid and Lucky Daye is a welcome surprise. Khalid and Keys previously collaborated on her “Alicia” album for “So Done” and their musical chemistry shows on this album.

Over the years, Keys has transformed herself while exploring different sides of her talent but in “KEYS” her confidence is apparent.



Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
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Movie Review: In 'Heads of State,' a Buddy Comedy with Statesmen

 This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)
This image released by Prime shows John Cena, left, and Idris Elba in a scene from "Heads of State." (Bruno Calvo/Prime via AP)

Say what you will about the Idris Elba-John Cena vehicle “Heads of State,” but it’s surely the first buddy comedy about the fraying bonds of NATO.

The potential collapse of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization plays a surprisingly pivotal role in this fitfully diverting, for-background-noise-only, straight-to-streaming movie. Elba plays the embattled British Prime Minister Sam Clarke, while Cena co-stars as the recently elected US President Will Derringer, a former action star.

“Heads of State,” directed by Ilya Naishuller (“Nobody”), is mostly about their relationship, a tense and adversarial one challenged further when an assassination plot leaves them stranded together in Belarus. But that “Heads of State,” which debuts Wednesday on Prime Video, is such a mild romp makes it all the more surprising to hear a line uttered like: “If NATO falls, there’s no backstop against despots and dictators.”

It’s a funny time to release a comedy set around international political disconnection and imperiled Western democracy. But if you were beginning to worry that “Heads of State” is too timely, don’t. Any nods to current events here serve more as reminders of how much “Heads of State” — like most of Hollywood’s output — is unengaged with anything resembling our political reality.

You could argue that that’s not necessarily a bad thing. You could also argue that the greater sin of “Heads of State” is underusing Stephen Root. (He plays an expert working for the bad guys.) But the vaguest hints of real-world intrigue only cast a pale light on the movie’s mostly lackluster comic chops and uninspired action sequences.

The best thing going for “Heads of State” is that the chemistry between Elba and Cena is solid. The “Suicide Squad” co-stars trade barbs with a genial ease. Most of the time, those revolve around their characters’ divergent histories — Clarke was a commando before becoming a politician — in debates like which one of them is “gym strong” as opposed to “strong strong.”

That’s one of the few decent gags in the script by Josh Applebaum, Andre Nemec and Harrison Query. But one problem in “Heads of State” goes beyond the high-concept set-up. The best buddy comedies — “Midnight Run,” “48 Hrs.,” “The Nice Guys” — are predicated on opposites thrown together. Elba and Cena have their obvious differences. (Cena’s Derringer is exaggeratedly optimistic here, too.) But ultimately they’re both beefy dudes in suits.

As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we’re left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes are enough to forgive the movie's geopolitical delusions.