Is Keanu Reeves a good or bad actor?

[Guest Jason]

Now I don't know a lot about the theater industry, so don't be too hard on me.

 

A specific actor who receives a lot of negative criticism is one Keanu Reeves. He's a very popular actor, most movie buffs are familiar with him, and has played in hit movies such as Devil's Advocate, The Replacements, Sweet November, Hardball, Something's Gotta Give and his most popular: The Matrix trilogy. Many people, including myself, believe that he is a great actor. But many, I've found, despise him. He's oftenly played off as nothing more than a pretty boy who draws tickets simply because of his appeal to the female demographic. Do you believe he deserves this negative criticism? If so, tell me why, because I definitely do not. I think that he's one of the best actors alive today.

 

His work in the Matrix series speaks for itself. It's one of the most successful series in the history of show business, and each sequel was anticipated. The beginning of the series, as in the Matrix itself was revolutionary, and was was really the movie that made me fond of Keanu Reeves. It really proved his versatility as an actor, and that's exactly what I look for in actors: versatility.

 

What makes an actor great is not his ability to play one specific role amazingly, but his ability to play many roles and do a top notch job. In the Matrix series, he played a more serious role, a role he played to perfect and in my opinion proves his ability as an actor even without his versatility. But he also has a comedic side to him, as he's played in movies like the Replacements and Something's Gotta give, where he played in a romantic angle as he did in Sweet November. He's produced two of my favorite sports movies, the Replacements and one of my personal favorites: Hardball. In Hardball, he played a man with a serious gambling problem who, to make a long story short, had a shitty life, and ended up coaching a little league baseball team in the projects. Hardball was so well-written, and he played his character to perfection in it. It had the perfect combination of drama and comedy, much because of his great acting.

 

Other qualities I look for in actors are the way they can make you love or hate a character, the way they can transform a decent movie into a great one and the way they make a movie seem real, and those are all qualities I've seen in Keanu. But not many people seem to share my point of view. Do you? Is Keanu Reeves a good or bad actor?

[Sideburnious 0]

Good actor for certain roles, not for others e.g Good for a surfer/L.A dude, bad for ye olde english roles

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Good within an extremely limited range. He can play the Bill and Ted part well and there's maybe a few others but he sucks if the character he's playing has an IQ over 100.

[Nighthawk 0]

None of the things you said are true.

[2GOLD 0]

Keanu is Keanu

One minute he is good, the next minute he couldn't act to save his life.

 

He was simply awesome in "The Gift", he was decent in "The Matrix", he was horrendous in "Matrix Reloaded", he was excellent in "Bill and Ted's excellent adventure", he was downright hilarious in "Much ado about nothing", and his work on "Speed" and "Point Break" speaks for itself.

 

Keanu is the GOD of unintentional comedy in a starring role.

 

Plus, he played Siddharta in "Little Buddha". You haven't lived till you've heard Keanu Reeves talking like Apu.

 

So in conclusion, Keanu defies logic.

We just don't KNOW what the hell Keanu is from role to role. It's like gambling.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

He's like Vin Diesel, he keeps the same God damn personality no matter what role he plays.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Vin Diesel has a personality?

[1234-5678 0]

I think it is more fair to compare Keanu to Paul Walker, even if Keanu doesn't bother me and I fucking despise Paul Walker.

 

Anyways, I thought he kicked ass in "Point Break", "Speed" and the original "Matrix."

 

I can't think of anything offhand I thought he was terrible in, but then again, I guess I haven't seen too much of his work.

[2GOLD 0]

Why the hell do I keep hearing some weird Shawn Michaels theme???

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Why the hell do I keep hearing some weird Shawn Michaels theme???

It starts playing if your cursor comes into contact with Deon's HBK sig.

[2GOLD 0]

Why the hell do I keep hearing some weird Shawn Michaels theme???

It starts playing if your cursor comes into contact with Deon's HBK sig.

 

Thanks.

I figured it out like a second ago.

 

That is damn scary. I thought I was finally going insane.

[Guest SP-1]

That is damn scary. I thought I was finally going insane.

 

Naw. You're going insane when you think you randomly hear "Real American".

 

Keanu is . . . well, he's Keanu. He's not a bad actor, he's just not an exceptionally good actor, either. He's kind of wodden, kind of stiff and most of his characters just end up feeling like the same person in a different reality. Neo is really just Keanu's character from Bill and Ted, only with mad computer skills and an action hero. But the core of the character mannerisms and how Keanu displays emotion never really changes much from movie to movie.

 

I don't hate him. But there are tons of better actors out there. If you put Keanu and Ewan McGregor in the same scene, I think Keanu's head would explode.

[EdwardKnoxII 0]

Why the hell do I keep hearing some weird Shawn Michaels theme???

It starts playing if your cursor comes into contact with Deon's HBK sig.

And it's the awful Sherri verison to boot.

[Precious Roy 0]

Keanu Reeves is a great actor if we're using "great" as a euphemism for completely average. How the hell can you call him great with a straight face and what does it mean for the better actors of his generation like say Johnny Depp or Val Kilmer? Are they "greater than great"?

 

Reeves is in Affleck territory with me, tolerable and believeable in a limited range of roles, comically awful when he trys to stretch.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

And it's the awful Sherri verison to boot.

 

I always liked it better than Shawn's.

[Slayer 0]

How the hell do you do that? I mean, I know it's Flash, but that's about it

[Guest Smues]

I don't like Sherri's version at all, but it's still better then the one on WWF volume 2. I don't know who sings it but it sounds hidious.

[Precious Roy 0]

And it's the awful Sherri verison to boot.

 

I always liked it better than Shawn's.

totally

[Lil' Bitch 0]

How the hell do you do that? I mean, I know it's Flash, but that's about it

 

A friend made it for me using a program called Swimmax or some shit like that. You can add it any song you want, but it only plays 23 seconds of it.

[Special K 0]

Keanu is generally only good in movies where he has to act bewildered, or a surfer. Period. Hence in 'The Matrix' where he doesn't know what the hell's going on, he's good. In the sequels, where he's supposed to be more confident, he came off as very stupid and whiny.

 

He sometimes is hilariously bad, as in Speed. Watch the movie. He cannot act scared or sad, and sometimes even has a hard time with angry. He has an insanely limited amount of roles I could see him in. Can you see him as a good romantic lead or villain? I sure can't.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

He's a terrible actor that can actually pick good roles a lot of the time, which puts him above the real dregs like Paul Walker. He gets saved by his castmates in films like Speed or the Matrix. As long as he's doing action or comedy, he's passable, but keep him away from dramatic roles.

[Precious Roy 0]

Keanu is generally only good in movies where he has to act bewildered, or a surfer. Period. Hence in 'The Matrix' where he doesn't know what the hell's going on, he's good. In the sequels, where he's supposed to be more confident, he came off as very stupid and whiny.

 

Yeah, I had the exact same feeling. As soon as the character matured his performance suffered and his weak points started to show.

[Mole 0]

Keanu has done well in three movies; Bill and Ted, Speed and the Parenthood (which was the same character as in Bill and Ted).

 

During the first scene of Revolutions, I was screaming at the screen because Keanu was so bad. Bascially, you can just tell that he is acting.

 

He's oftenly played off as nothing more than a pretty boy who draws tickets simply because of his appeal to the female demographic.

I wouldn't consider Keanu a draw at all.

 

There have been four movies, I think, that he has been first billing that have grossed over $100 million.

 

Speed

Matrix

Matrix Reloaded

Matrix Revolutions

 

He isn't a draw at all. Hell, Brad Pitt isn't even a draw.

[Precious Roy 0]

To be fair, My Own Private Idaho was good, that's the kind of role he excells in, and the seemingly forgotten River's Edge was very good. Permanent Record is a another pre-Bill & Ted film that I enjoyed.

[cabbageboy 0]

Yeah he was good in River's Edge. It showed the more pissed off metalhead version of Ted...heh.

 

My mom is a fairly big Keanu fan mainly due to Speed, Point Break, and The Replacements. He really was hilariously bad in Point Break I thought...Speed had too much action to really gauge his performance.

 

My friend Ian and I had this discussion before seeing Revolutions last year. We agreed that he is adequate when doing dork comedy or action that doesn't require dramatic chops, but in that movie he had to do this very serious death scene with Trinity and he was hysterically horrible. We both cracked up at a point where it was supposed to be sad.