Keke Palmer’s best roles include some fine distinctions in genre which have taken her from Disney Channel to one ofJordan Peele’s best movies. Her fans might identify some common themes throughout her career, but each one of her performances stands out as something unique. She can play a peppy schoolgirl who is a perfect team player or a tough-as-nails young woman who works best alone.Palmer has delivered in movies that are thrilling, shocking, and enlightening,working with some of the best in the industry.
Palmer also has amazing vocals and some voice-acting talent,allowing her to explore more subgenres. She is also widely known for some TV roles, namely Zayday Williams fromScream Queens. Furthermore, when her most recent movie is her best, her career holds more potential still in the future. Maybe she will appear in the currentlyuntitled fourth Jordan Peele movie, or her fame will land her more fun cameos like being a part of theZodiac Council inThis Is Me…Now.
Jump In!
Cast
Jump In! (2007) follows the story of a young boxer who discovers a passion for double Dutch jump rope, challenging his perceptions and the expectations of those around him. This Disney Channel Original Movie explores themes of self-discovery, determination, and overcoming stereotypes through engaging performances and energetic sequences aimed at inspiring young audiences.
Jump In!is a very old-school Disney Channel movie, full of overblown, schoolyard confrontations and cloying declarations of confidence and friendship. It pretty much follows the same plot asHigh School Musical: a popular jock finds a new,“less cool”hobby and is mocked for it before triumphing. DisneyChannel mega-star Corbin Bleu leads this feel-good teen drama alongside Palmer,which hits every predictable beat but still manages to achieve something noteworthy in its themes.
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There are some surprising nuances and valuable subplots withinJump In’s basic story, like a girl at Izzy’s boxing gym who is also mocked for her preferred sport, and a neighborhood bully who turns out to be the story’s narrator in a good twist ending.Palmer is delightful as Izzy’s new teammate Mary,but not the source of the most interesting parts of the story.Jump In!is completely goofy, like a lot of the bestDisney Channel original movies, but showcases some great elements of grief, family, and community.
Alice
Alice (2022) is a drama film directed by Krystin Ver Linden, starring Keke Palmer in the titular role. The story follows Alice, an enslaved woman in the 19th-century South, who escapes her captors only to discover a shocking reality beyond the limits of the plantation. The film explores themes of freedom, resilience, and societal transformation with a compelling narrative and strong performances by the cast.
Palmer gives one of her strongest and most gut-wrenching performances, which carries the story.
Aliceis an ambitious movie, and the fact that most people who went to see it saw the trailer and went in knowing the twist is to its detriment. Palmer gives one of her strongest and most gut-wrenching performances, which carries the story. However, the context of Alice’s determination and the movie’s entire atmosphere changes about a third of the way in. Two settings clash whenAlice escapes an Antebellum South-era plantation, only to find herself in the year 1973.
WhileAlice’s pacing is strange, it creates an interesting juxtaposition between two periods in the history of emancipation and civil rights through the eyes of someone launched from one era to another.Common creates a strong contrast to Alice as Frank,a man dealing with injustices in his modern day refracting off her completely different experience. While the conclusion is rushed and some plot points are not completely clear,Aliceis an intriguing thriller from start to finish.
Brotherly Love
Brotherly Love (2015) is a drama that chronicles the lives of three siblings in Philadelphia. As they navigate the highs and lows of adolescence, familial responsibilities, and personal aspirations, the film explores themes of loyalty, ambition, and the stark realities of life in an urban environment.
Brotherly Lovehas a more fractured narrative than some of Palmer’s other movies, following several different subplots concerning the family that is the focus of the story.Palmer’s Jackie and her twin brother Sergio have been raised by their older brother June,and each sibling finds themself in the middle of a different combination of teen obstacles and bigger battles. While June is caught up in a turf war and Sergio feels the pressures of being his school’s basketball star, Jackie falls in love with a boy from the richer end of the neighborhood.
Brotherly Loveis a poignant title when this theme manifests itself in several ways in the story,demonstrating the double-edged sword of love. Jackie loves her brothers dearly despite the trouble they get into, while her new boyfriend is reeling from the loss of a brother figure. What the characters are willing to do for their families and who they are willing to hurt comes full circle in a shocking ending, which emphasizes the tragic fallout for everyone involved.
Pimp
Pimp (2018) centers around the life of a female pimp in New York City, navigating the complexities of her profession while seeking love and redemption. The film delves into themes of survival and aspiration within the urban underworld.
When Palmer’s career so far had been largely coming-of-age narratives,Pimpis where she gets the chance to show off how she can do something completely different, the likes of which she hasn’t done again since.Palmer’s Wednesday"Win"is a terrifying pimp in the Bronx,responsible for her mother, girlfriend, and the women who work for her. Palmer conveys Win’s intimidating nature but also her desperation for love. Her most heartbreaking scene is a confrontation with her mother, played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, in the final minutes of the movie.
This gritty drama shows Win caught up in the world in her work, before she realizes that there is more to life than money only when it is tragically too late. Palmer’s final lines of narration come across as forced for a moment before it is revealed that she is saying it to a loved one.This context makes sense of the closing comments and brings together thePimp’s biggest themes,largely about the one true love Win had in her life and how striving to protect that love drew her away from it.
Lightyear
Disney Pixar branches the Toy Story franchise off with Lightyear, a story that centers around a human version of the Buzz Lightyear toy and his missions with Star command. Set during an exploration mission, Lightyear and his crew are attacked during a scouting mission by alien lifeforms and find themselves stranded on an unknown planet. To help get everyone home, Lightyear volunteers on a dangerous mission to test pilot their means home. However, each test light passes time and the characters age in his absence.
Lightyearwill not be remembered as one of Pixar’s best movies, mainly because of the confusing expectations it sets by being affiliated withToy Story. The movie’s opening establishes a bleak tone by Pixar’s standards, with just the barest hints of space horror. It draws upon some classicsci-fi movies that influence every movie in the genreas the vehicle for a basic, serviceable story.Lightyearis a visually vibrant and heartwarming twist on a space adventure,with funny supporting characters like Buzz’s robotic cat companion Sox, and his best friend’s granddaughter, Izzy (Palmer).
The montage of Izzy’s family over the years, from her grandmothers’ marriage to the birth of her father is one of the movie’s best sequences, conveying the feeling of a life well lived, even in unconventional circumstances. Its message is simple but effective, about taking things as they come and valuing family and friends in a turbulent world.Buzz is an overly determined protagonist focused on the wrong goals, while Izzy is a naïve rookie,and they get into some fun shenanigans together with the rest of their comedic band.
Joyful Noise
Joyful Noise is a musical comedy-drama that follows two strong-willed women who clash while trying to lead their small-town church choir to victory in a national competition. The film explores themes of community, faith, and determination, featuring dynamic performances and uplifting musical numbers that highlight the choir’s journey toward achieving harmony and success.
A large part of what makes Joyful Noise work is the charisma of the people in it, namely Queen Latifah and Dolly Parton. However, Palmer’s character Olivia (Latifah’s Vi Rose’s daughter) is a likable and realistic teenager.Joyful Noisedepicts Olivia struggling to come into her ownwhen her worldview is so different from that of her overbearing mother; she inspiringly finds confidence through art as a lead singer in her church’s choir. When the music itself is this in Olivia’s life and the musical numbers are so uplifting,“Joyful Noise"is a fitting title.
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All the characters strive to support their friends and family and uphold their faith while pursuing personal dreams, from finding love to leading their choir to victory.Latifah, Parton, and Palmer are all hilarious at different points,while Jeremy Jordan also gives a decent performance as the typical love interest.Joyful Noisecovers a lot of different stories about regular people accepting what they cannot change and striving to be better while following a standard, fun musical competition story.
Imperial Dreams
Imperial Dreams (2014) is a poignant drama focusing on a young ex-convict’s struggle to rebuild his life and care for his son amidst the challenges of returning to his troubled neighborhood.
Granted,Palmer has a total of two scenes inImperial Dreams,the focus of which is John Boyega’s character. Boyega’s Bambi is released from prison and solely responsible for caring for his son, while the boy’s mother, Palmer’s Samaara, is also in prison. Palmer’s scenes are emotional and well-executed, with good performances from both her and Boyega when he brings their son to see his mother, and they discuss the situation he is in.
However, Boyega is the true star of this pre-Star Warsmovie, portraying Bambi’s simmering panic and anger as he navigates a system not designed to help him, avoids pressure from his family to take up criminal work again, and tries to pursue his dreams. Bambi’s occasional narration of what he is writing at any given time elevates the movie by allowing the audience into his head.Imperial Dreamsis a haunting depiction of an ex-convict’s reality,with a title that carefully imbues it with bigger themes than one person’s experience.
Hustlers
Based on New York magazine’s 2015 article “The Hustlers at Scores,” Hustlers is a comedy-drama film that sees strip club owner Ramona teach a woman named Destiny the tricks of the trade, including how to wrangle the most money out of wealthy clients. Set during the 2008 economic collapse, Ramona and Destiny will partner up with other girls at the club to find a new solution to keep their profits on the rise.
Hustlers is an electric movie, with great chemistry between all the leads.
Hustlersis an electric movie, with great chemistry between all the leads. Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu are a fantastic duo, while Palmer and Lili Reinhart add additional nuances to their interactions as the secondary protagonists.Hustlersalso depicts some harshly realistic financial struggles among these characters,responsible for providing for their children amid a stock market crash. A group of former strippers are powerful through their performances and set out to take back what Wall Street took from everyone in a vigilante quest.
As things spiral out of control and Lopez’s Ramona oversteps what they can get away with,Hustlersbecomes a perfect thriller. When the moral and legal ramifications come down upon them, the main characters discover some hard and comforting truths about their friendships and familial bonds.Hustlersbenefits from the neon lights and luxury of the strip club and high-end restaurant settingsand the decadent fashion tastes of the protagonists, with a riveting, ethically dubious story underneath.
Akeelah and the Bee
Akeelah and the Bee is a family drama that follows an eleven-year-old girl from South Los Angeles as she competes in a national spelling bee. Overcoming a lack of support, Akeelah discovers her talent and determination, along with the help of mentors and her community. The film explores themes of education, perseverance, and the power of community in nurturing individual talent.
Akeelah and the Beeis no less of a heartrending and inspiring movie than it was almost 20 years ago. It is no wonder Palmer went on to become such a strong actress when she worked with stars like Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne early on.In Akeelah and the Bee, the title character is a girl from a dysfunctional family attending an underfunded school who has a natural talent for words. Recruited by her school principal to compete in the school spelling bee,Akeelah swiftly progresses to the regional, state, and national bees.
Yet there is so much more toAkeelah and the Beethan a typical victory story, asboth Akeelah’s family and her coach are coping with profound grief as they conspire to see Akeelah become a champion.The class tensions between Akeelah and some of her competitors are present throughout the movie. However, Akeelah finds that she has so many people willing to help her, transforming the movie into something amazing about friendships and bigger families.
Nope
Written and directed by Jordan Peele, Nope follows the owners of a family-run Hollywood horse ranch whose lives are changed by extraterrestrial phenomena. Siblings Otis (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer) scramble to understand events that seem to defy all explanation, even as their neighbor (Steven Yeun) tries to turn the strange occurrences into a alien tourist attraction.
Peele is a horror master, andPalmer proves how perfectly suited she is for this style of movie inNope.Nopeslowly builds up tension and dread, with the manifestations of its themes strategically placed in different characters and their individual stories. Elements like Jupe’s traumatic childhood experience on the set of a sitcom seem strange but carefully enhance the story. Meanwhile,Nopemakes the most of its setting, capturing the vastness of Agua Dulce, and showcases an alien design unlike any other.
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Palmer’s character undergoes the biggest change duringNope,starting out as the upbeat and outgoing counterpart to her isolated brother. As they are terrorized by the invader hovering above their home, Emerald’s relentless darker side shows itself. The final moments of confrontation are all about her and the audience gets so much satisfaction in what she accomplishes, even if it goes against the movie’s underlying message.Nopeis more complex than anything elseKeke Palmerhas done, widely considered her best movie.
