There’s a tendency, when watching the work of Keanu Reeves, to dismiss his signature low-affect approach to acting as something dull, or maybe even lazy. But his best roles—and I’d argue that there is no finer Keanu Reeves role than John “Baba Yaga” Wick himself—share with Reeves a sort of glacier-like intensity, hiding an ocean’s worth of pain behind his quietly evaluating eyes and distinctively stiff-armed posture. It’s the rare action star who can make Wick’s particular kind of video game invincibility look both incredibly cool and entirely deliberate, holding himself with the calm assurance of a man who is literally not afraid to mow down dozens of mooks in the span of a minute at some sort of fancy event. But Reeves is just as compelling in the franchise’s utterly ludicrous (and typically wonderful) dialogue scenes, where his world-weary resignation contrasts so perfectly with the high-concept silliness surrounding him. And when he ever so briefly breaks—as in the first film, when he finally, hatefully declares “I’m back” to his old gangster allies, or the ending of the second, in which it you can begin to see it set in how utterly fucked he might be—Reeves lets us get the quickest glimpse of the man lurking beneath the perpetual, apparently imperturbable scowl. [William Hughes]
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It probably isn’t my favorite, but the role is so rarely mentioned I have to try. Martha Plimpton’s boyfriend in Parenthood. He’s basically there to cause clashes between Martha and her mother (Dianne Wiest), but he has a sincerity and sweetness that keeps the story from becoming exhausting. He also had a scene in his briefs that was an important formative memory for me…
He’s great bonding with Joquin Phoenix in that movie too.
Same. On all points. The brief exchange with Diane Wiest about his father flicking cigarettes at him just slayed me. Then to see him interact with little Joaquin.
His full body shake after that scene kills me every time, like he is trying to physically rid himself of the seriousness of it and get back to his goofy self.
It’s very good dog like.
“You know, Mrs. buckman, you need a license to buy a dog. You need a license to drive a car. Hell, you even need a license to catch a fish. But they’ll let any butt-reaming asshole be a father.”
Best speech of the film. That, and when he had to explain to Dianne Wiest that her son has been acting weird b/c he just discovered how to spank it.
“Do you know what a ‘boner’ is?”“If memory serves.”
“I just told him, ‘that’s what little dudes do.’” (pause) “I mean, we ALL do it.”
This scene is my go to reference for people who question Keanu’s acting ability (leaving aside good stuff he did Point Break, My Own Private Idaho).The man has appeared in far too many films for “someone can’t act”.Keanu rocks!PS – I love The Lake House, no matter how sappy it is.
Awesome call-out. He has a similarly small and profound role in Thumbsucker, which is fine, but maybe worth watching to see him.
+1 for Thumbsucker. Like you wouldn’t want surly smoking Keanu Reeves as your dentist.
He really is wonderful in this small role.
I came here to say this! Glad to see his Parenthood role is loved by many!
That was absolutely what first came to my mind. He’s a supporting character who plays a central role in the overall goings-on. Reeves was perfect casting because the audience immediately made assumptions based on his established goofball persona and the way he’s presented early in the film, then he gradually reveals unexpected depth.
Yes. this. So much this. The first role I remember him in (even if i may have seen bill and ted first, they didn’t leave an impact). I saw that movie when it first came out and i was far too young to see it, but his line about fathers and assholes was just so burned into my brain.
It’s not my favorite but I’ll take this opportunity to give a shout-out to his often derided Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, who I think is hilarious. Keanu is stiff, yes, but his stiffness is perfectly matched to the one-dimensionality of the character, who literally does almost nothing except ride into the frame, declare “I am the villain”, stare at everyone with contempt for 15 minutes, then disappear until the end having done his part. I’m not honestly sure if Keanu is 100% in on the joke but I think the movie knows extremely well what it’s doing with him and he’s part of what makes it so fun.
Branagh made the joke. That is enough for me to love it.I mean that movie is cast so well that it had to be a theater joke.
Like pretty much anything he’s in, Keaton steals those few minutes so hard I think the whole movie’s his.
I auditioned for Dogberry but got Verges.I kicked ass, but damn.
I never thought Beetlejuice would make a great Shakespearian actor, but what did I know?
Honestly, his Dogberry performance satisfied my need for a Beetlejuice 2, cause he just dumped whatever he had left over from that movie into this role. I think of Ebert in his review saying it might not have been the most ideal Dogberry, but it was the most interesting performance in the movie and one had to admire Keaton just GOING FOR IT
Keaton’s performance in that movie is in its own class. He makes a simple decision (the guy mistakes “ass” for a compliment), which keeps the character consistently out of step with reality. It’s just sublime.
There’s this excellent interview with 15 of the 18 passengers on the bus in Speed. One of them was his Shakespeare Coach!https://uproxx.com/hitfix/speed-20th-anniversary-meet-the-passengers-of-bus-2525/
I’ve described Ryan Gosling having a “compelling blankness”, as an acting asset.I don’t want to draw a direct comparison, but I think Keanu’s genius is in the same neighborhood.
I saw that one in the theater. When Keanu utters the line “I am a man of few words” people in the audience actually applauded.
One of the aspects of Bill & Ted that gets overlooked is, for all their perceived lack of intelligence, they are pretty articulate. ‘We’re destined to flunk most egregiously tomorrow’, for instance.
They probably did pretty well in English. Unfortunately I never saw Bill & Ted until recently (before my time), and I love the stoner Shakespeare and how ludicrously low-yet-high stakes the story is. It’s just a history test, and yet there’s real sadness there as two best buds realize they might never see each other again. And they also somehow lead to the creation of a future-stoner-rock utopia I guess?
“Ted, you and I have witnessed many things, but nothing as bodacious as what just happened. Besides, we told ourselves to listen to this guy.”
Never thought of that before. They’re a bit like benevolent E.B. Farnums.
My first job was at a movie theater when Bill and Ted came out. I’ve had their sayings in my head for 30 years because I saw it so many times. My favorite “Be excellent to one another, and Party on” It’s been working for me.
Along with the aforementioned choices, he was perfectly cast as Hank in The Neon Demon and as Shane Falco in The Replacements.
“Pain heals. Chicks dig scar. Glory lasts forever.” – Shane Falco
Even though it’s River Phoenix’s film, Keanu does hold his own in My Own Private Idaho. But mine is probably John Wick, a character which needs an understated performance which he specializes in.
Since I haven’t seen it mentioned, Bob Archer in A Scanner Darkly. His calm, detached voice works great against Downey Jr and Woody Harrelson. As well as his slow fade into addiction. The rotoscoping lent itself perfectly to that movie.
Johnny Utah? Anybody?
You’re sayin’ the FBI’s gonna pay me to learn to surf?
This is by far my favorite, and can probably perform the whole film off the top of my head. But there is a special place in my heart for Ortiz the dog boy in Freaked. My love for film was nurtured by Film Threat, and my first exposure to it featured this film, and Keanu’s cameo is the cherry on top of a truly insane madhouse.
Oh and shout out:
Where is this from?
Always.
I am a F! B! I! AGENT!
You ever fired your gun up in the air and gone ‘aaaah’?
Hahahaaa! Boi 🙂
“No I have not fired my gun up in the air and gone ah!”(Quick non-Reeves aside, but the prissy way Angel says “Ah!” is one of my favourite bits of that exchange.)
Danny says it that way first, he’s just echoing him.
And Johnny Mnemonic too!
God, I saw that turd in the theater. Only thing I remember about it is that Henry Rollins is in it for some reason.
I…want…ROOM SERVICE!!!
I AM AN FBI AGENT! It’s a classic and I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise
The exclusion from Johnny Utah from this list renders it entirely illegitimate. You’re going to call out some stupid meme over an absolute stone classic? Give me a break.
Hell yes.
Any list of Keanu Reeves’ most iconic roles that does not feature Johnathan Salt Lake City Provo Corridor Utah as its undeniable number one is absolutely worthless and should be expelled through a time/space dimensional portal directly to the Poop Planet.
Get me two!
This is the role that I would think of if I took a moment to contemplate it; though, my first thought would be The Matrix. Still, Point Break is the superior film in every way.Point Break has the action that The Matrix but has so much more to in the way of the emotional journey that Johnny Utah goes on for ultimately having to choose between his responsibilities to his work and his loyalty to Bodhi, his friend that he respects and loves for changing his life as well as the way he sees the world.
Johnny MnemonicIt’s a fun little sci-fi movie that doesn’t take itself too seriously and had an entertaining cast.
I’m glad I’m not the only one. Keanu’s “blankness” is perfectly suited for a character whose brain is mostly just a biological USB drive. Plus it has a cyborg dolphin and Dina Meyer with crazy 90s hair, and is surprisingly well-shot for a sci-fi B-movie.
I always admired his role in The Night Before. But that’s because I find it super underrated. Like nobody talks about it even though it’s essentially a 1980s take on The Hangover.
Donnie Barksdale in The Gift, Nelson Moss in Sweet November (admittedly better understood as a guy with AIDS freeing a terminal closet case,) Perry Lyman in Thumbsucker, Julian Mercer in Something’s Gotta Give, Alex Wyler in The Lake House, Tom Ludlow in Street Kings, Henry Torne in Henry’s Crime, Frank in Destination Wedding…lots of good performance. He also did well in shocker roles, like Bob in A Happening of Monumental Proportions, Evan in Knock Knock, Kevin Lomax in Devil’s Advocate, Griffin in The Watcher. My favorite performance, as in he made the movie watchable? I suppose Hardball. He was so much better than Thomas Middleditch in Replicas (a movie only SF fans could enjoy) it was kind of annoying to see Middleditch sucking the life out. The commitment to the proposition that Reeves is positively bad (outside the terrible English accent as Jonathan Harker) is either someone who never could forget Bill & Ted, or someone who has some disdain for Reeves personally, as in thinking he’s gay.
I forgot all about Street Kings. Great performance. I’m gonna go into the way back machine and mention Rivers Edge (1986) and Permanent Record (1988). Both had solid performances from Reeves
Street Kings had a great Forest Whitaker performance and a James Ellroy script. And Hugh Laurie and Chris Evans. Sadly overlooked. Rivers Edge is the movie I first noticed Reeves, not Bill & Ted, which is why I’ve been puzzled by the insistence on thinking Keanu was playing himself in Bill & Ted.
I forgot all about Street Kings. Great performance. I’m gonna go into the way back machine and mention Rivers Edge (1986) and Permanent Record (1988). Both had solid performances from Reeves
I loved him in Man of Tai Chi. As far as I remember, it was also his first time directing. He played a very intense villain, and his final showdown with the main character was absolutely bonkers.
His performance in Sam Raimi’s underappreciated 2000 thriller The Gift is among his best. It’s the film I point to when people say he can’t act
He is genuinely fucking scary in that movie.
Love that film. And he’s terrifying in it. It was a revelation for me, as I had only seen him in Bill & Ted before that.
I liked how he met three different people I knew who never met each other over a span of a decade or so and was genuinely excellent to all of them. We always knew this to be true but it’s nice to see it even more so confirmed, though.
In 1991 he came out with three movies within two months that solidified his status in my eyes: Point Break, Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (a week later!), and My Own Private Idaho. All wildly different from each other, all excellent, and Keanu is great in all of them. He was in the Keanu Zone.
The villain in Speed was named Howard Payne. Harry was Jeff Daniels’ character.
Changed above, thank you.
My favourite Keanu Reeves role is Keanu Reeves in interviews, especially when he’s appeared on The Graham Norton Show. He just comes across as such a fanboy about film & the process of filmmaking and he never seems to be “on”. I do wonder how much of that’s genuine. I really hope all the “good-guy Keanu” stories are accurate.
I think he genuinely shit his pants when he met Sonny Chiba for the first time on Japanese TV. So would I.
Keanu is the world’s most impossibly beautiful dork.
He’s great. I feel like I could spend an evening fucking around at some shitty state fair with him and wind up sleeping in a dumpster and he wouldn’t even think twice. Just zero ego or pretension whatsoever.
The perfect description!
You can just see him just trying to remain composed and not turn into a complete fanboy which I totally get. I just take it for granted that Keanu watched like a billion Kung Fu and Samurai movies as preparation for some of his action roles, studying the way different actors perform.
He’s so, so good hosting the documentary about digital vs film. His enthusiasm and knowledge really stands out, even when interviewing someone such as Martin Scorsese. I never would have thought Reeves would be able to hold his own in such an interview but I really underestimated him.
That was Side By Side, right? I keep meaning to watch that, and then forgetting about it again!
You should! It’s great!
When Keanu takes Scorcese’s claim that film is the more “honest” medium and presents it to James Cameron, his skill as host jumped from “charismatic and charming” to “holy shit, the guy really has a knack for this.”
From everything I’ve heard from Reddit stories and other first-hand accounts on the Internet, Keanu is very much the real deal and genuine
I dealt with him pretty regularly at an old job a few years back.He was my favorite regular, and I miss him still. He is the loveliest person.
John Wick=Ted Theodore Logan=Neo=Johnny Utah (I honestly can’t decide, I’ve watched the first two Wick’s so much, nowhere near the others yet, but they are so damned good BECAUSE of him).
Hate to be that guy, but Dennis Hopper’s name in Speed is Howard Payne. Harry (RIP) is Jeff Daniel’s character.No, I did not watch that movie a fuckload of times when I was a kid, I swear!
No Scanner Darkly? That’s a surprisingly layered and heartbreaking performance by Keanu.
That’s a weird movie to get ahold of. Coming from a Linklater fan.
Who’s got time for a surprisingly layered and heartbreaking performance when there’s a meme to be listed?
That film is severely underappreciated. Probably the greatest screen adaptation of Dick’s work, and Robert Downey Jr. firing on all eight paranoid cylinders is a sight to behold.
His scenes with Woody Harrelson are funny af.
I don’t know that I can name a favourite Keanu role as much as a favourite Keanu movie (and even then it’s hard). The thing about Keanu is, much like Arnie, he’s not a great actor – but he has an amazing screen presence. In an era where movie stars are dead, Keanu still is one.
I wouldn’t say stars are dead. There are a lot of actors who can leverage their on screen brand to create huge roles. Too many to list, really.
I don’t think there are many actors today that can “open” a movie the way the big names of the 80s and 90s did.
I don’t know if that’s true. I could rattle off a few right now. The problem is that if we do this exercise, you can list all of the actors in the 80’s and 90’s and I can only list right now. Stallone could in 1985, but by 1997 he absolutely could not. Charles Bronson could probably open a movie in 1980. It’s the problem with classic vs contemporary pop/rock. “The was so much more back then.” Yes, because you’re counting samples from 25 years.
Keanu’s an extremely gifted physical actor, which Arnie isn’t— Arnie is (was) a more a shameless freakshow than anything.I wouldn’t sell Keanu short as an actor either. Most stars with his talent for action couldn’t inhabit John Wick like he does between fights. You can say he lacks versatility and he certainly doesn’t do well with roles that require emotional range but ya know, Meryl Streep couldn’t play Neo.
Keanu’s an extremely gifted physical actor, which Arnie isn’tSays the guy who has never seen Twins.
Meryl Streep couldn’t play NeoThank you for this!
I’m surprised no one mentioned Scott Favor from My Own Private Idaho.
Capital-A Art.
Oof, Gus Van Sant’s work is like catnip to me. Dude can frame a shot.
Seconding John Wick. I love how all the other actors ham it up both in their reactions to Wick. My favorite scenes are the overacting at the beginning of the two films; Peter Stormare and Michael Nyquist selling the mystique of the character far more than Reeves’ acting ever could. That blankness is definitely part of the charm, and I love how the side characters project so much charisma onto someone who’d equally prefer being home napping with his dog to going on a hate-fueled murder spree.
Yeah, some of the best parts of the films (especially the first one) are the characters who know what he’s capable of reacting to the news of what was done to him.
I first watched A Walk in the Clouds as a kid because my sisters rented the movie, but I have always liked it.So nice romantic love interest Paul Sutton for me.
my parents had this movie on bootleg vhs when i was a kid and it was so formative for me in developing ideas of what human beauty looks like
It’s Ted for sure. He’s like a little puppy. He’s sweet, kind, treats the princess babes with decency and respect, humble and self-aware enough not to put himself above stealing his dad’s keys even though he hasn’t done it yet, he’s the whole package. Wyld Stallyns!
“Maybe after we’re married they’ll sleep over.”
“Indeed, our girlfriends are most chaste.”
“Are you a tank?”
Every time he takes over Agent Smith at the end of The Matrix, I just hear “I totally possessed my dad!”
You forgot his epic mushroom-head hair, too!
I liked him in Constantine … though Matt Ryan is a better Constantine Probably Point Break or A Scanner Darkly
On a related note, he has a good interview in The Guardian today with a crush-riddled Hadley Freeman: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/may/18/keanu-reeves-grief-loss—bill-ted-john-wick-actor-tragedyAlso, Speed wins, not least because he meshes so well with every other character in the movie.Now, I’m off to watch a Batman / Batman Returns double-bill.
ORTIZ THE DOG BOY!No one ever remembers Dog Boy!
13 is a lot of mailmen… no wonder they fight over territory.
River’s Edge set the tone for all that follows…
the thing about keanu reeves is i think he is both the man and movie star i have adored most consistiently my whole life.
I don’t want to live in a world where none of you pick JOHNNY UTAH FROM POINT BREAK OBVIOUSLY THE BEST KEANU ROLE.
I’ve given this some thought in the past, about how hard I was on Keanu when he was younger and how much I’ve come to like him now. But I’ve found that I still, generally, strongly dislike him as a younger actor – I like Ted, I like the Parenthood guy, and that’s about it.
That projection-friendly blankness is just a lot more interesting in a man his age than it is on a twentysomething. On a twentysomething, it just comes across as bog-standard young-man stupidity – nothing I haven’t been, but not at all interesting. The surface tranquility seems bone-deep.
On a fifty-year-old who’s clearly accomplished and skilled (at killing, at horse-riding, whatever it is he’s doing), it’s invitingly mysterious. It’s impossible to intimidate. It has earned some right to cast withering scorn upon us for our mediocrity, and for whatever reason, does not. Its surface tranquility can hide anything. This, I can project on.
For me it is Evan from Knock Knock. Because I got to see him bang those two teenagers.
I expected Ted to be way closer to the top of the list here, as that was the first name to pop into my head when I read the question. The studio types who are skeptical about the prospects of financing a new Bill & Ted movie might as well be amorphous blob-creatures from Neptune, their thought processes are so alien to me.That said, does anyone remember The Prince of Pennsylvania? I honestly actually went out and got the asymmetrical haircut he got in that.
The article’s banner image… I always forget just how fucking pretty late 80s/early 90s Keanu was. No wonder he was #1 on my celeb crush list for so long.Also, the correct answer to this quest is, and forever will be, Johnny Utah. Neo, Jack Traven, John Wick, and Scott Favor are all tied for a very close second, but Point Break is goddamn Point Break.
Did he ever play a sentient burrito? If not…Ted, I guess.
Hey Gwen, is Keanu Reeves a sandwich?
There are only 69 correct answers…
Can I offer his role as musician in his band, Dogstar? I was one of a few thousand people who ventured to the Other Stage at Glastonbury in the same year – I think – that the Matrix came out, in 1999. Prior to the festival he had said something to the effect of not minding if people threw fruit at him, that he would just be happy to be there, so of course people did indeed through fruit at him all throughout the set. And at one point, someone threw an orange (I think) that was heading straight at his head, and at the last second he looked up from his guitar and swerved out of the way in proper Neo/bullet-time fashion. The band played out his set in good nature and they seemed to really enjoy themselves. They could have stormed off, he could have not bothered seeing as his movie career was doing perfectly fine, but instead he put himself front and centre for his passion project and did it with dignity. I’ve had a huge deal of respect for him ever since then. Fair play to the man.
Neo and Johnny Utah top the list. Nothing else comes close.
I’m excited for his role in the upcoming Ali Wong/Randall Park rom-com. It looks fun! But I have to go with John Wick. Reeves plays this character so well. He’s so tired, he just wants to grieve, and he’s running on pure will throughout these movies. He owns the John Wick role in a way that he hasn’t other roles before. With any other actor, the first movie could have been a pleasantly well-down B-action movie, but Reeves’ presence and technical skill elevated it.
As much as I love the Matrix (and it’s one of my personal favorite films ever) I think one of his roles that gets overlooked is in Devils Advocate. He’s legitimately a solid actor with a great cast to work off of. The only time his acting was taken as seriously was probably in the new Wick franchise where he’s strategic and dangerous just in his expressions.
I was really impressed with Keanu in Destination Wedding. He played a misanthrope, which is so far removed from his usual beatific self that it got me to reconsider his range. Keanu will never disappear into a role like Joaquin Phoenix or Daniel Day-Lewis, but he also doesn’t play the same character over and over again. He’s a much better actor than he’s gotten credit for over the years.
I may have mentioned this on some other thread and this isnt a fun Keanu story thread but whatever. I waited fir standing room tickets for the Book of Mormon in its first year. At the intermission, i turned to my friend who i thought had been standing beside me on the rail at the back to rave about the first act. Lo and behold, its Keanu Reeves, who i assume just wandered in and refused a seat and posted up beside me. I think he agreed with me in a low key Keanu-esque way. As for the smoking photo above, i live in Vancouver and can confirm his general bohemian dress when he walks around. A Scanner Darkly is an underrated role.Edit: The salivating fantasy of watermelon juice as compared to its bland reality was a massive letdown when I was younger and stoned-er.
I’d go for Constantine (yes he wasn’t quite the comic version but short form, I’m not sure how well he’d have worked that much more surly and bitter). I mean the exchange with him and Stormare is as good as it gets (Giving the devil the finger on your way to heaven? haha! Yet he still loses because we know the devil’s right. He’ll eff it up again in the long run).
And no love for his inter species turn as Keanu? Talk about stretching your legs in a role.
Constantine isn’t a bad movie as long as you just forget the comic exists while you watch it.
It’s about expectations as opposed to good/bad. It’s what it is. I’d argue a 225 issue + comic book isn’t going to do well in a 100m format. It’s why the guy who did the NBC/Legends show is doing better, he could stretch his legs and build backstory. The movie was just a snapshot, and ignoring the lack of a British accent, they got the tone pretty close unless you really wanted the lowest points.
Permanent Record
Permanent Record
Glad someone mentioned River’s Edge, but no love for My Own Private Idaho? I know that’s mostly River Phoenix’s movie, but Keanu plays off him so well, and creates the perfect image of a rich kid slumming it (Prince Hal for the 1990s).
Oddly, I loved The Man of Tai Chi.Thought he was wonderfully menacing there
Little Buddha. Not one of Bertolucci’s best, but the parts with Keanu as Prince Siddhartha were really cool.
He was PERFECT in this.
That movie was…on screens.
I haven’t appreciated Keanu as much as I should, but I think he’s terrific in John Wick, Speed, Bill & Ted of course, and even the Matrix.Point Break remains a movie that I’ve never really seen, and I feel like that’s the one missing for me as far as his filmography.I also appreciate his attempt as me in the eponymous film, even though he was neither blonde nor British. He did a serviceable job.Also he was pretty decent in Dracula. Tho honestly, Mel Brooks’ Dracula take was better, and in a few ways more faithful.
Point Break remains a movie that I’ve never really seen, and I feel like that’s the one missing for me as far as his filmography.I have two words for you: Back off, Warchild.
A good way to get into “Point Break” is as part of a Kathryn Bigelow mini-marathon, alongside at least “Near Dark” and “Strange Days.” Or maybe back-to-back with an early Michael Mann film?“Point Break” is absolutely worth watching, but it marches very much to its own beat and has always been a film that I need to be in the mood for.
HIs accent in Dracula should be locked in a room with Costner’s Robin Hood accent and fight to the death.
But that would just be Keanu’s accent alone in a room. I love Keanu, and I love Dracula, but I have to watch the movie around his dialog. There’s no restraining her screen presence, and he wears the shit out of a tweed suit, but his delivery with that accent is just painful. Most of those performances go waaay over the top, but most of the other performances (give or take Winona Ryder) mesh with the crazy visuals. Anthony Hopkins and Cary Elwes cross right over into camp, and it’s glorious.
I love the first John Wick unabashedly and will tout its virtues to anyone willing to listen. The Matrix is a highly influential movie and Neo is pert near an ideal use of Reeves. But the correct answer is Ted “Theodore” Logan and we all know it.
Univision Honcho : “We’ve got orders to start hyping Toy Story 4″Lackey” Av Club is running a Favourite Keanu Reaves role as part of it’s John Wick 3 pimp out for the opening weekend we’ll just have somebody pick Duke Caboom”Univision Honcho “Nice now find out what Tommy Wiseau is up to and get Ernie from Kinja on the phone complaints are way down tell him to shitify the platform by 15%”
The Man of Tai Chi was the proto-John Wick and a very good action movie. KR was just a one-note villain and pure as a result.
No one chose Constantine 😭
Keanu isn’t my favorite actor, but he picks his movies well. When he’s starring in something, I know it’s going to be something I can enjoy. That’s not to say I seek out Keanu Reeves movies, but every time I’ve watched one, I’ve enjoyed the movie.
can’t believe no one’s mentioned his turn as the half-Devil Southern lawyer that almost brings about the end of days
I will say that, though I love Keanu Reeves, his worst performance is Dangerous Liaisons; though, I don’t feel like it was his fault. Whomever thought that his voice wouldn’t stand out like a puss-filled canker-sore on the face of a first date was an idiot. He was young and had not yet fully grown as a person.
Siddhartha in Little Buddha.
River’s Edge is one of my all-time favorites. It’s weird but has at its core a really strong moral message, and the ending wraps up the point of the story so spotlessly, so eloquently, even though I had to research the screenplay online to understand what Keanu the moper says in the final confrontation with Crispin Glover’s character. They were perfect foils for each other onscreen. Crispin the weird extrovert and Keanu the detached cool guy whom, you know, you didn’t realize actually cared about anything. And Feck rivals Frank from Blue Velvet as among Dennis Hopper’s most magnetic, unusual characters.
It it is kind of a nothing romantic comedy, but I just watched Destination Wedding and I have to admit I really enjoy this performance. I would actually ask Keanu to go as my plus one to a wedding and be that character because it would be the most fun out ever I’ve had at a wedding. He does the most perfect prickly pear.
My Own Private Idaho.It’s one of my favourite movies, and Reeves more than handles his own against River Phoenix in a career redefining turn.It’s a great movie from a time when it seems his career could have taken the path of indie darling, rather than action hero.
The obvious answer is Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Why are we even talking about this?
Neo.no doublt
I think everyone is gonna say John Wick because its perfect for him. He doesn’t talk much and its all just action.But may i also just put forward “The Day the Earth Stood Still” where he plays an emotionless alien. It’s also another perfect role for him where he just has to say his lines as blankly/blandly as possible. It suits his style of mahogany beautifully.
Ted. Duh.
Clearly, his star-making turn as “shirtless cowboy on the cover of MALE CALL” in Gus Van Sant’s “My Own Private Idaho” is up there.
No love for Constantine?He’s literally gone to Hell and back, knows everything he does is useless, and still keeps going.
The Gift. Keanu can play scary violent redneck. A rare bad guy role.
You have to toss this whole article out and start over now that the CLEAR winner of “Best Keanu Reeves Roll” is Keanu Reeves as Keanu Reeves in “Always be My Maybe”
He’s the ONLY thing worth a damn in that stupid Diane Keaton/Jack Nicholson movie, but the place where I used to rent videos in Chapel Hill actually had a section called “Good Movies Ruined By Keanu.”
When I was a teenager / growing up if someone had told me Keanu Reeves was going to be this huge beloved actor with iconic roles from movies like The Matrix, Bill and Ted, John Wick, and Speed … I’d of laughed in your face. Because even though I liked Keanu…he was well lets say wooden at best in some roles. But … unlike alot of actors he knows how to use his weakness’s and strenghts perfectly when picking roles…I dont think I’ve seen a movie with him in it that he wasn’t amazing in other than that really bad Constantine movie. That was just a crap movie….can’t even fault the actors for that…just bad writing.