From whoa to woe: Ranking Keanu Reeves’ 20 best performances (and 5 of his worst)
In honor of the upcoming fourth John Wick film, we explore the career highs and lows of one of our favorite leading men
Film Features Keanu Reeves
There’s no one in Hollywood quite like Keanu Reeves. There’s something otherworldly about him, a profound sensitivity that transcends his roles and carries over into his kind, soft-spoken public persona. Few could have managed to evolve from teen heartthrob to stone-cold badass as gracefully as he has. Before The Matrix, before Speed, many already knew him as Ted “Theodore” Logan from Bill And Ted’s Excellent Adventure, or even from movies as far back as 1986's River’s Edge. Between those high-profile projects, he’s been working steadily for years, taking small roles in big movies and big roles in small movies. Now he’s just as famous for being Keanu Reeves as he is for playing Ted, Neo, Johnny Utah, or John Wick.
Speaking of the dog-loving, semi-retired hitman, we’re about to get a new installment in the wildly popular John Wick franchise. Reeves will be back in action again in John Wick: Chapter 4, which opens in theaters on March 24. We’re looking forward to seeing our precious Baba Yaga go on another revenge-fueled killing spree, but in the meantime, we’re looking back at some of his most memorable performances, and some that are better off forgotten.
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Keanu Reeves was having a rough day. He had just finished filming a particularly grueling scene for his latest movie, and all he wanted to do was unwind by checking out some entertainment news on the AV Club website. But as he scrolled through the site, he couldn’t help but notice the countless slideshows littering the homepage.Normally, Keanu was a pretty easygoing guy. He didn’t let much bother him, and he certainly didn’t get riled up over minor inconveniences. But something about these slideshows just rubbed him the wrong way. They were so tedious, so time-consuming, and worst of all, they were everywhere.As he clicked through yet another listicle of “The 10 Most Shocking Celebrity Transformations,” Keanu felt his frustration growing. He knew he should just close the website and move on, but something inside him couldn’t let it go. He was Keanu Reeves, after all – he had starred in some of the biggest movies of all time, and he wasn’t going to let a bunch of silly slideshows get the best of him.So, he decided to take action. He picked up his phone and dialed the AV Club’s main office.“Hey, it’s Keanu Reeves,” he said when someone picked up. “Listen, I love your website, but I’ve got to say, all these slideshows are really getting on my nerves. Is there anything you can do about it?”To his surprise, the person on the other end of the line was sympathetic. “We hear you, Keanu,” they said. “We’ve been getting a lot of complaints about those slideshows lately. We’re actually in the process of revamping our website, and we’re planning to phase them out soon.”Keanu couldn’t believe it. He had expected to be met with resistance, or at the very least, indifference. But here was someone from the AV Club actually listening to his concerns and taking action.“network error
I see everything in list form. I don’t know what I did to set it up that way on my phone, but I don’t do slideshows.
Thank Keanu!
5th time is the charm:Keanu Reeves had always been a fan of the AV Club website, a popular entertainment news and review site. He enjoyed reading the articles, watching the videos, and keeping up with the latest movies, TV shows, and music. But there was one thing that was starting to tick him off – the endless slideshows.Every time Keanu clicked on an article, he was bombarded with slideshows. “10 movies you didn’t know were directed by women”, “12 celebrity homes you won’t believe exist”, “15 most memorable TV finales of all time”, and so on. Each slideshow had dozens of pages, each with a single picture and a line or two of text, and he had to click through each one just to see the full list.Keanu found himself getting increasingly frustrated with this format. He didn’t have the time or the patience to click through all these pages, and he was starting to feel like the AV Club was more interested in generating clicks and pageviews than in providing quality content.One day, Keanu decided he had had enough. He reached out to the AV Club’s editorial team and expressed his frustration with the constant barrage of slideshows. “Why do you guys do this?” he asked. “Can’t you just give us a list on one page?”To his surprise, the AV Club actually listened. They took Keanu’s feedback to heart and made some changes to their website. They reduced the number of slideshows and started presenting more content in a traditional article format.Keanu was thrilled. He felt like he had made a difference, and that his voice had been heard. And he continued to be a loyal reader of the AV Club, enjoying the site even more now that it was easier to navigate and more focused on providing quality content.
Honestly, I preferred the twist ending of the earlier version.Is this purely a work of fantasy or is there really a pivot away from slideshows in the future? Lifehacker’s most recent list of podcasts was presented in a non-slideshow format after I complained about the previous one. (Not that that really had anything to do with it, but you’re welcome.)
Total fantasy.
I see everything in list form. I don’t know what I did to set it up that way on my phone, but I don’t do slideshows.
Bogus Journey deserves better than this. It’s a solid sequel.
Solid, but I put more of it on William Sadler. Without his Death, the movie would really suffer.
I prefer it to both of the other two. It has some lovely wee moments (but especially anytime Death is on screen).
I stopped reading at that point.
I bailed when they listed Don John in the plus column.
Better than the first.
Right? They could have just done “more adventures through time” like any other stupid franchise would have, but they went in a completely different direction and were the better for it.
I’d argue it’s better than the original: Much more complex, inventive, bonkers and cheerfully goofy.
Absolutely. I laughed harder at Bogus Journey than I did at the original – games with Death and the Evil Robot Us-es kill me every time.
The original, for all it’s charms, didn’t have Pam Grier, or Joss Ackland, or “Dude – we’re in Heaven and we just mugged three people”, or Jim Martin of Faith No More.Or God. “First of all, congratulations on the Earth. It is a most excellent planet, and Ted & I enjoy it in a daily basis.”
Even the credits are funnier than the first movie“I didn’t know I could run that fast!”
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How dare you rank Duke Kaboom so low. Shame on you.
I’m not going to say which ones don’t belong on this list, but I’m surprised not to see his role in The Replacements and his role in The Bad Batch.
He’s about as charming a presence as you’ll find in The Replacements. Doesn’t even get mad when the striking players flip his truck on its side.
Seriously. He basically plays the most likeable guy on earth AND and an NFL QB convincingly. In retrospect, it’s a pretty amazing accomplishment.
I agree, he is so charming in The Replacements. What male attracted person isnt in love with Keanu by the end of that movie?
What roles does he play in Bad Batch? I watched the first season and loved it. I’m not a fan of the second season at all, but I’d be fine skipping a few episodes to watch his.
I didn’t even realize there were two bad batches! I’d better check my shit 😉
The Bad Batch (2016) – IMDb
Oooooh…. LMFAO. I didn’t realize there were two, either.
I’m surprised they forgot the movie in which he delivered the finest monologue ever created in cinema:Note: the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo does indeed have a Keanu rant-worthy laundry service. Look at the little cardboard bowties for the collar keeper!
The Replacements is great and so is he in it.
I love Point Break & would have that #1. I suppose his performance is not great it it but that’s what makes it work for me. Rivers Edge is my #2, Crispin kinda takes over the scenes he is in though. He is like a robot in John Wick. Fun movies but I wouldn’t have them high on performance unless it’s strictly for the fighting.
He’s robotic in both John Wick and The Matrix, so ranking them as the two best is intellectually dishonest. But they are his two most popular franchises, so they automatically get those spots.
“He’s robotic in both John Wick and The Matrix, so ranking them as the two best is intellectually dishonest.”
He’s not robotic in John Wick.
As characters, Neo is probably the least interesting among their band and you’re right that Keanu isn’t asked to do a whole lot with him. Which has nothing to do with the quality of the performance.
He is like a robot in John Wick. Fun movies but I wouldn’t have them high on performance unless it’s strictly for the fighting.But, that’s sort of the point. John Wick is so precise and methodical, he’s basically a robot. He struggles with humanity and the movies make that clear.
But he never learned why I cry.
Strong agree on this! They clearly got “most popular” and “best” a little mixed up. Also, the absence of The Replacements and Thumbsucker makes almost as little sense as the inclusion of his career-low Much Ado about Nothing performance.
Crispin Glover owned that movie so much that I damn near forget everyone else that was in it (aside, of course, from Dennis Hopper)–all I can recall about the rest of them was they didn’t look like they’d showered in a few months before they made the movie.
I went looking for Tod from Parenthood and only disappointed in that role’s positioning (should be way higher).Love that Lake House is on here, that goofy time travel romance is the best since Somewhere in Time.I’d rate Speed at Keanu’s best role, yes even over John Wick.
Todd’s response to his own unexpectedly deep observation about fatherhood is even better, snapping out of the moment and shaking himself a little like “what the hell was that??” He’s not a bright kid but you know he wants to do right by Julie. I’d put it way higher as well.Devil’s Advocate is among his worst performances. His effort at a Southern accent is about as bad as I’ve ever seen, and lord knows there’s plenty of competition. But you HAVE to put Dracula on here. My god.
I love him in that movie! After the shaving their heads bit and his “IDK WHAAAAT we were thinking!” line, that shit cracks me up every time (as does the look on Steve M.’s face)!
Speaking of Margin, what a freaking cast. Martin, Steenburgen, Moranis, J. Phoenix, Keanu, Wiest, Robards, Tom Hulce, Plimpton…not a weak link.
“Martin,” not “Margin” FFS…
Yes, but he’s playing against Al “I’m Gonna Chew ALL the Scenery” Pacino in one of the all-time hammiest performances which retroactively gives Reeves a positive grade.
“GOD IS AN ABSENTEE LANDLORD” is my second-favorite Pacino delivery of all time, right behind…
AB-SUN-TEEEE LAAND-LAAAAAWD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A plug for the Korean original version of Thr Lake House (Il Mare), it’s much better structured as it didn’t have a need to force a meeting between the two main characters in the middle of the film because they’re big Hollywood stars. Structurally, it really threw the film off vs the original.
Martha Plimpton and Keanu are one of my all-time favorite movie couples. They are both SO good in Parenthood. “I wouldn’t live with you if the world was flooded in piss and you lived in a tree!” They are my favorite part of a movie where every single performance was top-notch.
All you do is fuck my mother and eat my food.Mother fucker!Food eater!
I thought he was awful in Much Ado About Nothing. Can’t understand why that’s on here.
It’s subjective of course, but I would say he’s merely not very good in Much Ado About Nothing. Don John is perhaps Shakespeare’s least compelling villain* and it takes a very good actor to find anything interesting in the role.*I admit I haven’t seen productions of some of his less popular plays. It’s possible there’s a more boring villain in Pericles, but it seems unlikely.
I thought he was absolutely terrible in Much Ado About Nothing, but the rest of the cast is great. I’m confused by the headline of this article. Where are the 5 worst performances of his?
I’d move Something’s Gotta Give a lot higher, I’d include getting harassed by Ana de Armas in Knock Knock, because that’s a performance to see, and I wouldn’t divvy up ranking the same character multiple times. But since you did, then I’d slide Bill and Ted Face the Music to one of his worst. He just didn’t have the same energy, and I was surprised, considering he was one of the driving forces to get it made. Alex Winter, on the other hand, was really trying.
No I Love You to Death? Unfortunate.
That was the one I spent the whole list looking for. Haven’t seen it since it came out but I remember it (and him) being pretty delightful.
MO-NOP-O-LEEEEE!
I thought Reeves and Hurt elevated that movie. Kline, Ullman, Plowright, were all great, but Reeves especially made I Love You To Death worth watching.
Reeves and Hurt were so great in this. I honestly remember very little else about it, except for their performances damn near line-for-line.
I remember when The Lake House came out and I wasn’t that interested in it, but I did want to know what was up with these letters and how they got back and forth. A friend saw it and I asked what it was, and he just said, “a magic mailbox.” I was so disappointed. I guess it’s the sci-fi geek in me, but I was very disappointed that it was just “magic.” Boo. Anyway, I still haven’t seen it.
See the Korean original of The Lake House first (Il Mare). It’s much better, the narrative didn’t have to be bent out of shape because of the presence of two Hollywood stars.
Okay!
Much ado about nifty shirts and belt buckles.
Much Ado About Prince Vultan!
Why does this site hate The Replacements so much? Did Gene Hackman poison one of the editors’ dogs or something?
He punched Denzel in the face. That cannot be forgiven.
If Bronson Pinchot’s legendary Random Roles interview on the AV Club and his appearances in interviews on Australian TV are anything to go by, Denzel Washington doesn’t get punched in the face anywhere near enough.
I stan for Dracula and I think everyone misses the point of his Harker, as evidenced by the argument made in this article. Yes, Oldman and Hopkins are devouring scenery. You do realize that Dracula is meant to appear as a tempting *alternative* to Jonathan, yes? Keanu’s incredibly mild (in comparison) performance is purposeful to set him apart. Yeah, it IS like he’s “in another movie”. That’s the f’ing POINT. All of the men in that film are meant to be outsized. Look at Renfield or Seward or big dumb Texan Quincey. Those are “big” performances. Jonathan’s whole characterization is that he is the steady guy dealing with the consequences of almost succumbing and going all Renfield. All people want to do is shit talk his accent and while that’s a fair criticism (I’m not saying I’m immune from giggling at “Byoodapest”) it also demonstrates how little they actually pay attention to the fucking *performance*.I also love Much Ado. It’s my favorite Shakespeare film adaptation. I don’t understand how you can put his performance as Don John in the Pro list and include his Harker in the Con list. Hell, I’d say he does more acting as Harker. Don John is exactly as his line says: a plain-dealing villain. Not exactly a deep role. A role I love but not a stretch.
I also think Dracula is great and Hopkins’ performance is worse than Reeves’.
The fact that Ted Theodore Logan is not #1 is downright criminal.
I am going to click your star, then unclick it, then click it again.
Don’t mess with my feelings like that!
I had forgotten that Keanu was in The Gift, but then again, for many of us, we will only remember one thing..make that 2 things from this movie.
Funny story, I knew nothing about this film when I first saw it on an army deployment to Kosovo, but one of my roommates was absolutely thrilled to have snagged a DVD copy (I think it had just come out on DVD at the time). So, I watched, and lo, it was a pretty compelling movie, but it didn’t seem like the type of film my roommate would get excited about. Southern Gothic seemed like an odd choice for him.Then, that one scene explained why he wanted to see it so bad. I’m surprised he even had the patience to sit through the rest of the movie before we got to… um, that scene.And yeah, Keanu was pretty good doing exactly what you wouldn’t expect of Keanu.
What’s the scene? I feel like I need to watch this for some reason.
I haven’t seen the film but legend has it someone gets their kit off.
One quick NSFW search reveals it to be an adorable (and surprisingly stacked) Katie Holmes!
Incidentally, since it came up, could I indulge in a moment of fanboy worship and say that Emma Thompson’s Beatrice in Much Ado became the platonic ideal of romantic interest for me? That performance started a lifelong crush on her and formed the basis for several crushes over the years. (Not that antagonistic flirting is an inherently healthy dating tactic, but it is the one I find most appealing.)
Much Ado is when I really started to appreciate Thompson as an actress. I realized I was watching Denzel Washington, Kenneth Branagh and Brian Blessed at the same time… and she just walked away with the scene. All terrific actors, but she was on a different level.
After going through the “best” list, I was worried that Destination Wedding was going to be on the “worst” list, but it appears that like most people, you forgot it existed.As a couple who act much like Keanu and Winona did in that movie, my wife and I enjoyed the snark.
I love Destination Wedding and added a comment about how it should be listed as one of his best. The movie is about two unpleasant people who turn out to be perfect for one another. It is delightful.
Oh oh, let’s do a “Keanu films you forgot existed” list. I’ll start:The Day The Earth Stood Still
I’m actively trying to forget that Keanu’s The Day the Earth Stood Still exists.
I didn’t forget it existed, as I never knew it existed until now.
He had the shallowest possible take, projected zero menace, handled the verse worse than di Caprio, and was a blight on “Much Ado.”
This is a good list, and I thank you. But the Best section has a disturbing lack of Johnny Silverhand.
I enjoyed reading this list. I would add his role as Frank in Destination Wedding opposite Winona Ryder as Lindsay. Reeves and Ryder are hilarious as two unpleasant people being throw together at a wedding. The film feels a lot like a play and the line delivery is excellent due to their undeniable chemistry. I clapped at the end it was so damn delightful.
Johnny Mnemonic escaped untouched?
Constantine too low, and Dangerous Liaisons not even listed.The thing that’s weird about Keanu is, it’s tough to tell how “good” he is as an actor separate from how good the movies he’s in are. He has something, and I don’t know exactly what it is, but some gift for using his presence or exercising judgement over roles or having good taste or a tremendous sense for how he comes across visually or something. He’s in an awful lot of good / interesting / enjoyable movies for someone who’s supposed to be a “bad” actor. Makes it hard to calibrate him.I do agree with listing his appearances as “Himself” very highly. Keanu’s performance in Always Be My Maybe is absolutely fucking brilliant.
No mention of his role in Thumbsucker?
As a huge fan of kung fu films, I honestly can’t tell if Reeves’ performance in Man of Tai Chi (which he also directed) is just plain awful or an homage to the way white antagonists are typically portrayed in kung fu movies: cartoonishly evil.
hah, I thought he was just relishing playing a sith-lord level evil guy. Seemed like he was having fun with it.
How in the ever living fuck is YOUNGBLOOD not listed here?That movie slaps in so many ways.
No love for Man of Tai Chi? Reeves directed this Hong Kong style action flick and plays an excellent villian.
Having been lucky enough to score tickets to an early screening of John Wick 4 (in IMAX no less) I just want to say it is everything you want in a John Wick movie, while also including the best overhead “no cut” tracking shot since Minority Report, and a fucking amazing homage to The Warriors. Also, it’s somehow two hours and forty minutes until the credits roll, and there’s maybe 17 minutes that don’t have someone getting absolutely fucked up. This is one of the first films I can think of where I was honestly wondering how much insane work must have gone on to choreograph all the stunts in this (the overhead shot is just an incredible piece of fantastically choreographed violence). If you are interested in this sort of thing (meaning, you liked the first three), you will more than likely enjoy this as well. I fall very much into this camp.
Ted, Jack, Neo, John WickI hadn’t put it all together til now, but Reeves has played 5 iconic film characters. Any actor would be happy to have their career be defined by just one of those roles.Everyone’s got their favorite Keanu, but when I think of one movie, it’s Speed.
A long time ago, I saw part of Prince of Pennsylvania.It looked good, but I never got around to watching the whole thing.
Oooooh…. LMFAO. I didn’t realize there were two, either. visit:https://postage-solutions.co.uk/
Profoundly disappointed that Replicants and Knock Knock didn’t even get a mention. Replicants was an amazing theatrical experience. Next level wrongheaded WTF insanity.
The Matrix, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, is another movie that’s damn near perfect. All meat no filler.
I just cannot shake how much better John Wick was before the sequels showed up. Now, the sequels are a lot of fun, but like many stories the more you add to this the more you curtail the imagination, and that concept hanging out in space – all shown, not told, so many details left unclear – just was such a breath of fresh air. All because they stole his car and killed his dog.This is a good contrast for the super cheap shot in the worst list – The Matrix. I’m just so much in love with Wachowski bullshit exposition, how its layers of concept and imagination, I really didn’t *love* the first Matrix until I got to read it as prologue – it was all style, with no substance. It was an MTV music video, devoid of meaning. The sequels fixed that up good. Of the four, I still rank the Matrix the lowest as its just sugar sugar sugar and no work done to make it a confection, a delectable delicacy. The idea to move the fourth film ENTIRELY away from that flashy sex appeal still sits weird with me, but I am so happy to have that movie in the quartet for the other things it does.Back to the topic, so much of all four films rests on Keanus performance. Not a tremendous amount of dimensions to the performance, but they are all unassailable from this perspective if you ask me. Its like criticizing a Greek god for being a overpowered horndog – not wrong, but missing the point.
The Gift aka Katie’s Boobs
Good guy. Not a really good actor though. There’s a few of the “good” performances in this list that I would easily have qualified as bad. He can play the stoic action hero well, but that’s pretty much. It’s commendable that someone who has been famous for so long could still be a decent and well-adjusted human being, and he may actually age slower than Paul Rudd, but I’m surprised he’s still as popular as he is.
Man of Tai Chi never gets much attention but Keanu did a bang up job directing it, there’s great fight choreography, and he plays an excellently evil villain. He really relishes playing the bad guy in that one.
Little Buddha…. My God. I never knew this exist. Now I must hate watch it.