K-SWAT ARCHIVES: 0001

11th Feb 2008 - Response to post in thread There is no spoon: The Matrix Discussed

There is no spoon: The Matrix Discussed

Koohii

I never saw what all the fuss was about. given all the hype, I did eventually rent it to see if I'd just been in a bad mood or something the first time. Nope. Sub-par cyberpunk story with lots of wire-fu. Top that off with Keanu (Can't act worth a hill of beans) Reeves as the star and... It is indeed a sad day when your star actor makes Kevin Costner look like a virtuoso. Blech. (omitted due to irrelevance) It's not just that Keanu Reeves can't act... But he makes Kevin Costner, who couldn't act his way out of a wet paper bag, who's first on-screen appearance was a corpse in an undertaker's display and who has been just as wooden ever since, look good in comparison. Keanu Reeves has an acting career because of his "personal relationships" with Mr Geffin of Geffin records. That's it. Most college undergrads are better actors. Heck, most RPG players are probablly better actors. If Reeves can be an actor, so can almost anyone who has graduated high-school, and many who haven't yet. Heck, look at the spikey-haired kid from American Pie. No movie experience, but within about 2 years he's in 4 or 5 movies, showing more acting and talent than Keanu has in 10-15 years. Keanu can play a surfer dude. That's about it.

K-SWAT: Anakin McFly

(This is in reference to your posts dated July and August 2007, on the thread 'There is no spoon: The Matrix Discussed' under the SFF forum.) First off, congratulations on actually coming up with an original expression. So far (I think) you are the first person who has claimed that Keanu cannot act worth a hill of beans. You are also the first person to use the phrase 'couldn't act his way out of wet paper bag' in a paragraph about Keanu while not referring to Keanu. Getting down to business: You said, "Keanu Reeves has an acting career because of his "personal relationships" with Mr Geffin of Geffin records." Apart from the spelling error (it's 'Geffen'), this is in no way the reason for Keanu's career. He has been acting for over twenty years, and he hasn't known David Geffen that long. They didn't even meet until Keanu's career was well underway, and they never got particularly close. If you must credit people who know Keanu, his manager Erwin Stoff probably had a much bigger part to play. And even then, you are ignoring the many celebrities out there who have good relationships with many useful contacts but who nonetheless can't make it big. Heck, I know someone who knows someone who knows Stephen Spielberg personally. I'm still not famous, and neither are the two someones in that list. Secondly. Keanu used to be a high school kid, and his acting has improved since then. For comparison purposes, this is a video of an audition he did when he was 22 years old: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zs8pPfrttFw He's come a long way. You also said, "Keanu can play a surfer dude. That's about it." John Constantine was no surfer dude. Neither was Donnie Barksdale, or Alex Wyler, or any other number of his characters that weren't Johnny Utah. Even Ted wasn't a surfer dude. He has probably never touched a surfboard in his life. ...My parents are bugging me to go to bed because it's almost midnight, so I guess I have to end off here. - Anakin McFly Webmaster of Whoa is (Not) Me: Defending Keanu Reeves

Koohii

Thanks for actually reading my comments. I appreciate that not everyone agrees with me. (Heck most people don't even come close--I tend to think Mr Cranky is too kind to movies) Since I wrote those comments, way back whenever, I have actually found a movie in which I can complement Reeve's performance: "THe Gift". Playing a wife-beating red-neck hick is (as far as I know) a stretch of Keanu's skills, but he was able to pull it off beautifully. I attribute this to Sam Raimi's direction. Other than that, I'm afraid we have radically different views on the matter. I nornally reserve my "wet paper bag" line for Kevin Costner. Sorry, must have slipped that day.

K-SWAT: Anakin McFly

Yeah, The Gift is supposed to be Keanu's best performance to date, though sadly I have yet to watch it. But recon at WINM just gave me a link to an article where someone declared that it was his worst, which once again supports my theory that people tend to love and hate different films of Keanu's. Your wet paper bag line was in reference to Kevin Costner.

Koohii

I suspect the reason that it was "the worst" has more to do with the fact that he's playing a totally unlikeable character. In some ways, the character is a straw-man villain. The plot of the movie has gaping holes in it, but the character acting is decent. Maybe Reeves just needs someone like Sam Raimi to elicit a decent performance. With three factors: Actors, Director, and Script, you can salvage any deficit in one if you have the other two. Good actors and director can correct a horrible script. Good director and script can get a decent performance from mediocre actors. On the other hand, look at Reeves in Much Ado About Nothing. His body language and delivery was just horrible, and he had a script by Shakespeare, with Kenneth Brannah directing. Result: "My Lord, dude." Anyway.