I know its inspirational aspects are nothing new, but I love watching Shane rediscover everything about himself that he thought he'd lost: leadership, confidence, mental fortitude, taking care of his teammates. And I love how the movie shows us he may have been beaten down by life, but he's not embittered by it. Plus the whole thing is just straight-up funny.

Sometimes - and this is a compliment - KR does things in his roles that make me think he belongs back on stage. The bar scene just before the kiss is a good example - his nervous hand movements convey everything he can't bring himself to say. So do the way his hopeful, engaged expression fades right after the toast when he realizes what she wants him to do, and the indecision he wrestles with at the door.

So weird - in a good way - to go from seeing him play an overconfident, in-your-face character like Conor to a man of such total diffidence like Shane, who can barely make eye contact.

And as I said before, this movie ruined two songs for me. Ever since, each time I hear that Police song, I think of 'that' scene.

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they benefit from repeated viewings, close-ups, etc.

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Yep. Constantine was what turned me on to his ability to do this. Thank God I have a digital copy 'cause otherwise my DVD would've been worn out by now after how many times I've watched a scene over and over again. (I'm pretty sure the people on my commuter train are all "Why does she always watch this same stupid movie about demon possession?") I can't believe how much I'm still noticing even now. He has remarkably expressive eyes and uses everything in the toolbox - and words often as a last resort - to communicate his characters' feelings, just as the best performers do.

I can never, ever understand the complaints of woodenness in his acting. I just can't. But then again, there are people who think the likes of Ryan Gosling and George Clooney are brilliant, and they've always struck me as the most wooden of all.

His acting is an acquired taste. One needs to 'learn' to read it; to 'see' it. It's a study in minimalism and in-depth reading :D But it requires a certain participation, patience and attention from the audience. It's all there, but not served on a silver platter; and there is no spoon ;) He's got his own language, mostly visual. Some people like it, some people don't ;)

As for Gosling.... don't like him, but I think he does have range. There's a mountain of difference between the Gosling of Half Nelson, Drive, and Crazy, Stupid, Love.

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it was just that kind of day ;) :D

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I (think I) know what you mean. When I was having a crap day, Constantine always made me forget my troubles by absorbing me in this fabulously dark world and character.

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One needs to 'learn' to read it; to 'see' it.

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Seeing his acting for what it really is makes me feel like Neo must've felt seeing the Matrix for the first time. It was all around me, my whole life, and I never knew.

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Seeing his acting for what it really is makes me feel like Neo must've felt seeing the Matrix for the first time. It was all around me, my whole life, and I never knew.

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... that's beautiful. and true.

I also just noticed some things he did in a pivotal Lake House scene that lent the scene and the plot point a wholly different level of meaning. Just stunning, and I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner. When will I learn it's never worthwhile to take my eyes off of him onscreen?

Henceforth, my reaction to his critics shall be:

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(Reeves) reminisces about a scene in the original script where the principal female lead beats up two hookers who were trying to rob Shane Falco. He really liked that. But they didn't even film it. "Didn't win that one," he says. "Tried, but . . . just didn't." He nods. "In the spirit of collaboration, the film went the other way," he says. "There's not much you can do."

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I cannot express how glad I am that this scene didn't make it. It would've changed the tenor of the film completely. But it does make his portrayal of Shane even more remarkable to me, given that he was working with such a completely different understanding of the character than the one that wound up in the final cut.

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I read a reviewer once who said of Keanu’s acting that it is "almost transparent" and in this movie it is, he doesn’t eat scenery he just does his job, low key, perfectly in character, and for those who know anything at all about acting all you have to do is watch his eyes. He has a Harrison Ford like quality of being able to express a wealth of emotions with his eyes and in this movie he pulls it off perfectly.

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This is what I loooove about his portrayal of Shane (and also why I love Harrison Ford's work in Sabrina). Shane says so little - and almost nothing about what he truly feels - so you have to look past the surface to see KR's heartrending portrayal of an almost-hero who doesn't believe in anything anymore, least of all himself. When the coach asks him before the first game if he's nervous and he says "No," you know he's telling the truth, because his eyes and the anxiety and doubt on his face reveal a psychological storm raging in his soul that goes far beyond pre-game jitters. His portrayal is filled with those moments, and the awesome holds up through dozens of rewatches.

One of these days I am going to figure out how to gif things, and I will do a full tutorial for those who think he can't act, he's one-dimensional or expressionless, etc. There is just so much fruit there...if you look. That was a small gripe I had with Pippa Lee - his eyes weren't in the frame enough, which makes it hard to catch the emotional depth of what he's doing.

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I also read somewhere that during the making of this movie it was discovered that Keanu really did have "an arm" and at one point threw a 69 yard pass.

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I read that one of the touchdowns Shane runs in - I think the crazy one with the near-flip into the end zone that got called back on a holding penalty - was actually Keanu, even though it was dangerous enough that it was supposed to be a stunt double. The director and Gene Hackman were freaking out when they realized it was him.

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I also just noticed some things he did in a pivotal Lake House scene that lent the scene and the plot point a wholly different level of meaning. Just stunning, and I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner.

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Wait, which scene?

When she gives the conversation an unnecessarily negative turn by mentioning her father's death, Alex has this split-second reaction of sympathy mixed with "Crap, this whole thing is going off the rails and I have to do something to salvage it," which is why he gets up and follows her. He initially read to me as dismissive of her pain, but that wasn't the case at all.

Then after they get busted kissing, he shoots her this agonized look - again, just for a split second - that suddenly made clear to me that he was really hoping she'd come out and say she liked him instead of trying to blow the whole thing off. Until I caught that look, I never understood why they didn't just get together right then. He was crushed but was trying to respect her silence. Ergo, ships passing in the night.

I know most viewers would've caught this stuff much sooner than I did. I am not the most observant person and it just fascinates me when I finally notice actors adding layers to scenes this way, especially when they're unspoken.

Also, WATCH THE REPLACEMENTS ALREADY. Jeez.