No, the movie does not have a happy ending. Although... it does include two 'happy ending' scenes ;)

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One. Line. Of. Dialogue. The man is a walking master class.

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And thank you, Jack, for a really good thread!

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It is a great example of something I especially love about Keanu's work - he knows his
specific audience well and doesn't treat us like idiots. His films ask us to bring
ourselves, our own thoughts, our emotions, and to relate to the films through that.
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My thoughts exactly MmeRenard. Whichever movie we see, each of us will take on our own individual interpretation of the story, the characters, etc. Yes, we would all, almost definitely, agree on the main theme of the story or the personality of the main character, but as MmeRenard says our own thoughts, emotions, sense of humour, intelligence and imagination would create individual "extras" in our minds, with regards to the characters he portrays. Isn't that cool? What one of us may find interesting, appealing or a good performance, others amongst us may not relate to it at all and form an entirely different opinion.
Certain characters Keanu has played, I've found them not to be as entertaining as the next person may have found them to be. Whilst I still admire (greatly) his work, I may not always be entertained by it! I'm not a lover of violence so MOTC was a no, no, to me from the start. But then again, I found Street Kings to be one of his best pieces of work, although still violent, though in a necessary way to the story.
I am impressed with his diversity and continual thirst for work. He leaves very little time in between one project to the next. It's almost like he's a workaholic. Which is great for us obviously.
Forgive my weakly written attempt at conveying such a small part of my thoughts on the man himself. I am not blessed with the eloquence many of you are gifted with. This is a really good thread, thank you Jack.

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it does include two 'happy ending' scenes

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I've read about one of 'em, and without judging a movie I haven't yet seen, I will say I wish women in film weren't so underrepresented in one particular, uh, area. It would be great to see a guy in a movie get really excited about doing that for a woman. Not that I literally want to see it because I usually stay away from overly explicit stuff; I just want to know there's some degree of equity out there.

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Although I still don't understand how one line of dialogue taken out of the context can give you amazing insight into a character that you haven't yet seen the story of...I'm just trying to understand how you reached this conclusion, because for me, trailers never 'work' that way.

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You're making me feel like I cheated on an exam. ;) If it helps, I didn't extrapolate that insight to the whole film, just to his character. It sounded to me like a truth John has lived with for a long time, not some final-scene revelation or character trope that will be proven untrue by later events. I guess I don't see any other way to interpret a line like that.

When I heard it, I was so struck by how personal it sounded that I started looking for an explanation. I thought maybe that was some of Keanu speaking, giving us some unintentional insight into himself. Then I caught my mistake, which is one I've often made when trying to interpret his work. I remembered that he will put everything on the screen that we need to know to form a full and accurate impression of his characters, but the one thing he won't do is give us himself. (Which, by the way, is the very thing that so intrigues me about his acting.) By default, that means the insight I perceived can only apply to the character.

You remember, LucaM, when I asked why you liked Gen Um so much? One of the things you said was that it spoke to you and you understood its language. All I can do is take that down to a micro level and say that's how that one line resonated with me. If I was right on a larger level, maybe that was just luck.

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he knows his specific audience well and doesn't treat us like idiots. His films ask us to bring ourselves, our own thoughts, our emotions, and to relate to the films through that.

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NAILED IT. This is why I have an emotional reaction/connection to his work that I've never had to anyone else's. His art helps me understand my life.

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I am impressed with his diversity and continual thirst for work. He leaves very little time in between one project to the next. It's almost like he's a workaholic. Which is great for us obviously.

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In one of his interviews for Henry's Crime (I think), he talked about how he was "still fighting for a career." It's really unjust that someone of his stature and talents should have to fight for a career at all, but such is the Hollywood beast. What amazed me, though, was that he admitted it.

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Forgive my weakly written attempt at conveying such a small part of my thoughts on the man himself.

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I didn't think it was weakly written at all, but I understand the sentiment. He has that effect on people. ;)

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This is a really good thread, thank you Jack.

Thank you, Jack, for a really good thread!

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It just struck me that you could tell just from the trailer that that line gives a deep insight into the character. Me, I need to see the bigger picture first. Always. So was trying to understand your perspective.
No two people are alike and they will perceive things differently and I wanted to understand how your perception worked in this case.

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If I was right on a larger level, maybe that was just luck.

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I just want to know there's some degree of equity out there.

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Jack, given your "concerns," I highly recommend My Own Private Idaho. That's all I'll say about that ;-) Yeah, Pippa Lee too. Sigh.

I probably shouldn't be posting in this thread, because my interest is rather more than "merely" platonic, though in a hopefully good sort of way.

Keanu has said numerous times that he looks at a character, the character looks at him, and a third character emerges. I would say that he IS giving of himself in a specific but a most generous way - I feel like that's what "superperfect" is about. That could be transference on my part, but I'm good with that. I think that he's a whole lot less "enigmatic" than is often claimed. He is an actor, a fine actor. While he brings himself to a role, I can't say that I've ever seen him bring ego to a role, and that's not something that we see often (ever?). He's a delightfully unique person, not something that is common within the culture, and certainly not within the entertainment industry.

No offense not all of the comments are of the walking dead!

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I probably shouldn't be posting in this thread

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By no means. I meant what I said - all perspectives welcome. Part of the reason I started this thread was because I wanted to hear from those of you who have been fans of his for longer than I have and are much more familiar with him and his work. I really appreciate everyone's insights.

I've read through a fair amount of the Knock Knock thread and have been attempting to sort out my thinking. It looks to be no more my cup of tea than Generation Um. But I'll probably see it because of him, because I'm so curious to see what he'll bring to a character like that. Do I wish he would only tell stories I like? Yes, but it's his career, not mine. And I want above all for him to keep working so I can keep rediscovering him, as seems to happen with every role of his that I see.

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It just feels like a blank sheet of paper filled with reused words!!!

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Then come up with better ones. :)

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His films ask us to bring ourselves, our own thoughts, our emotions, and to relate to the films through that.

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Whichever movie we see, each of us will take on our own individual interpretation of the story, the characters, etc. Yes, we would all, almost definitely, agree on the main theme of the story or the personality of the main character, but as MmeRenard says our own thoughts, emotions, sense of humour, intelligence and imagination would create individual "extras" in our minds, with regards to the characters he portrays. Isn't that cool? What one of us may find interesting, appealing or a good performance, others amongst us may not relate to it at all and form an entirely different opinion.

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Yep!

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A question for Anakin: I have problems with formatting, I cannot quote, add an image, etc. Am I doing something wrong, or is there a glitch in the Matrix? :D

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Above the reply box there's a list of formatting options - follow those. :)

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@Bliss - keep things respectful, please.

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Are we sure that's not a hack? Because it sounds wildly different than the Bliss post earlier in this thread.

But I don't think it's a hack, at least not on the site.

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I wrote the post

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I see my faith in humanity was misplaced.

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maybe convos like this thread are not my cup O tea!

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You think?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119502/