Keanu Reeves

[Mashinka]

In the UK there is a perception that Keanu Reeves is a really bad actor, something that I personally find hard to understand, after all if someone has starred in films as diverse and popular as Bill & Ted etc. and The Matrix they can’t really be that bad. The Guardian interviews Reeves and readers add their thoughts afterwards, mixed views but overwhelmingly positive. It is an informative interview and I had no idea about the level of tragedy in his personal life.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/13/keanu-reeves-henrys-crime

In the added comments at the end there are some suggestions as to who really is the worst film star around, all American, but surely the accolade must go to Britain for producing the most execrable “star” out there as there is no one as awful and totally useless as Keira Knightly, who is to acting what Alina Somova is to dancing. Perhaps we could have a poll on who is the worst actor/actress or would that be considered bad taste?

[Helene]

Reeves doesn't speak well: he swallows his dialogue, and in my hierarchy, that makes him a bad actor. I understood about 5% of his dialogue in "Much Ado About Nothing".

[papeetepatrick]

del. by auth.

[Mel Johnson]

The problem with decrying a performer's badness is that someone has to be upholding his/her goodness. I don't think anybody's gone that far out on the limb for Reeves, even he himself. He's just not good enough to be that bad.

And as for worst actor perhaps ever, surely some mention must be made of William McGonagall, who had sort of a reverse clacque that followed him, pelting the stage with fruit at every line. One account of a McGonagall performance tells of the performers sloshing about in ankle-deep orange juice and pulp. One theatre made him put up a £100 damages deposit against things his fans might do to the place. McGonagall thought this "rather hard".

[dirac]

Thank you for the link, Mashinka. I liked Reeves in some of his early roles and he's made some interesting movies even if he wasn't necessarily the most interesting thing about them. There is something of the eternal juvenile about him and he had trouble graduating to mature parts and shedding the Valley Boy diction that was right for, say, Ted, although he's hardly responsible for Kenneth Branagh's unfortunate casting choices and deserves brownie points for trying. Offscreen he seems like a decent fellow.

No "worst actor" threads, please.

[E Johnson]

Reeves doesn't speak well: he swallows his dialogue, and in my hierarchy, that makes him a bad actor. I understood about 5% of his dialogue in "Much Ado About Nothing".

He's a very good physical actor, in my opinion, but wow does it get worse when he opens his mouth. My guess is that particular combination is less appreciated in the UK than in the US.

[sidwich]

Keanu Reeves is near the top of my "worst actor/actress" list, but either he or someone on his management team has very good taste in projects. Like everyone, he's had his duds, but his "hit rate" is much better than most. (Cameron Diaz is another actor who I think is mediocre at best, but tends to make very good choices in projects.)

I don't think bad acting is limited to the U.S. Some of the other actors on my worst list are Orlando Bloom (British), Aishwarya Rai (Indian) and Diane Kruger (German). I think Keira Knightley is an okay actress, but more importantly, she's filling the tall, blonde and white, model-thin space occupied by Gwyneth Paltrow ten years ago. She should watch her back, though, because Blake Lively is jockeying like crazy to supplant her in the next year or so.

[4mrdncr]

In most of his films, Keanu Reeves succeeds because he is simply (but not sure how unintentionally) the 'blank slate' the plot-points and everyone else reacts off of. He makes the other actors look/sound good, and it is usually those other characters/actors who move the plot forward. Consequently, if the plot succeeds, and the other actors and/or their characters keep your interest, then the film may succeed as well.

[dirac]

He's a very good physical actor, in my opinion, but wow does it get worse when he opens his mouth

Good point, EJohnson. Yes, he was perfectly cast as Neo.

[E Johnson]

He's a very good physical actor, in my opinion, but wow does it get worse when he opens his mouth

Good point, EJohnson. Yes, he was perfectly cast as Neo.

And i also think he was very good in Speed and Point Break (not great movies but fun). Also roles that were more about doing than speaking.

[cubanmiamiboy]

I like Reeves suave personality and low key Hollywood profile. I think I would enjoy him in a victorian-themed film. He's very easy on the eyes.

[4mrdncr]

I like Reeves suave personality and low key Hollywood profile. I think I would enjoy him in a victorian-themed film. He's very easy on the eyes.

Not Victorian, rather 50-100 years earlier, but he was also in the film of "Dangerous Liasons" and I thought appropriate for the part. I also LOVE the duel at the end--both for the fencing (thank you Mr. Hobbs) and the filming of it. (But of course, Malkovich is the real star of that film--especially because he makes one see how Valmont could still seduce, WITHOUT being classically handsome.)

[cubanmiamiboy]

I like Reeves suave personality and low key Hollywood profile. I think I would enjoy him in a victorian-themed film. He's very easy on the eyes.

Not Victorian, rather 50-100 years earlier, but he was also in the film of "Dangerous Liasons" and I thought appropriate for the part. I also LOVE the duel at the end--both for the fencing (thank you Mr. Hobbs) and the filming of it. (But of course, Malkovich is the real star of that film--especially because he makes one see how Valmont could still seduce, WITHOUT being classically handsome.)

I would take Miss Close as THE star here...(of course, Malkovich following close... )

[richard53dog]

I thought he was very striking in My Own Private Idaho, (as was River Phoenix), which was the first film I noticed him in.

He was also very decorative (one of his strengths) in Dracula which was just a year or two later.

[Paul Parish]

Richard, I agree.

He seems best in roles where he's enigmatic and moves in fascinating ways and you can be intrigued and never satisfied.

Many fashion models are hte same --

Decades ago, Karen graham -- I THINK that's her name -- was the very beautiful model for Estee Lauder in all hte print photos. They made the HUGE mistake of having her do TV ads in which she said a little something, and as soon as she began to speak the thrill was over.

but in My Own Private Idaho, he HAD lines and delivered them satisfyingly. It's just that the role let him hold back everything you wanted him to give. "They that have power to hurt and will do none, that do not do that thing they most do show ... they are the lords and masters of their faces." you can resent it all you want, but THEY have the power.

[bart]

He seems best in roles where he's enigmatic and moves in fascinating ways and you can be intrigued and never satisfied.

Many fashion models are hte same --

Interesting comment, Paul. It reminds me that, I once was struck by the thought that Reeves in his serious roles reminded me of the French film actress Arletty (for those who remember her). Beautiful and exotic in appearance. Strangely serene, or above it all, even in dramatic scenes. Looking and performing like no one else in the film. I remember thinking: wouldn't Reeves make a wonderful Garance in a modern, cross-sexual ersion of Les Enfants du Paradis?

An enigma? Or a blank?

[papeetepatrick]

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3689519360/nm0000206

Pacino's extravagant and generous good looks make Reeves look a bit like Melvyn Douglas in this shot. It's probably the 'ungiving' aspect to Reeves that appeals to some: From this often follows an always non-reciprocal 'commercial ease' that doesn't necessarily coincide with beauty, but rather more with narcissism (and narcissists can be beautiful, but aren't nearly always.) From this shot, Reeves could definitely give good Gestapo middle management, or any number of twits that Rupert Everett has often been expert at--sort of thing Daniel Day-Lewis maybe used to do. Not like Jean-Louis Trintignant, though. He hasn't any range.

[bart]

http://theuglyearring.files.wordpress.com/2006/09/garance.jpg

Arletty and Jean-Louis Barrault, from Enfants du Paradis.

[dirac]

And i also think he was very good in Speed and Point Break (not great movies but fun). Also roles that were more about doing than speaking.

I agree. He was very appealing in both movies. He doesn't suggest any hint of dangerousness, however, which was fine when he was a juvenile and probably part of his appeal but doesn't help as a star ages. I must disagree respectfully with those who thought he was appropriately cast in "Dangerous Liaisons" - he was likable as he always is but not particularly convincing as a member of his caste or a young gentleman of the period, and the only reason he didn't stick out like a sore thumb was because he wasn't alone in the cast in having that problem. I liked the movie anyway, though.

[cubanmiamiboy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS1NsC8CHwM

[papeetepatrick]

Yes, very malleable face, would have been a good silent film actor, and reminds me of one in particular. Going to see if I can figure out which one, made loads of film, drank a lot and died young. Sort of hybrid of Richard Gere and Tom Cruise and a touch of Harrison Ford, maybe, too, not too much defined personality, so could be a 'blank'--sort that directors love.

Was thinking of Wallace Reid, but not sure if that's a good comparison:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0717468/

[cubanmiamiboy]

I'd take his acting over Tom Cruise's at anytime...

[papeetepatrick]

Reeves is never quite intense enough when he's intense (as when he's handcuffed in that one fragment in your montage--just short of going all the way, even in the face--you'd get more with Javier Bardem, wouldn't you?

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2296027392/nm0000849

More primordial, less Pepsi-Lite.

I'm not a Cruise fan, but he's got real fire sometimes--never subtle, but delivers all of it once in a while. Reeves reminds me of dozens of other people, including Jeff Stryker. Occurs to me that sidwich's 'good hit list' might have to do with the director's ease at working with him, though, and his ability to take direction. Probably, not sure.

Edited to add: Watched the montage again. Not 'handcuffed',but rather taken away by those two goons, or whatever the scene is. Net effect for me: goodlooking chameleon, never sexy.

[Mashinka]

The responses here are remarkably similar to those of the Guardian readers: rather divided.

Thanks for mentioning Orlando Bloom though, an actor so one dimensional that I had very successfully managed to block him from my memory. Compared with Bloom, Reeves is a master of the thespian art!

[dirac]

The responses here are remarkably similar to those of the Guardian readers: rather divided.

Thanks for mentioning Orlando Bloom though, an actor so one dimensional that I had very successfully managed to block him from my memory. Compared with Bloom, Reeves is a master of the thespian art!

Thank you for starting the topic, Mashinka. In charity towards Bloom, his may have been a case of too much, too soon, and being given opportunities he wasn't ready for.