Is Keanu Reeves a good actor?

[KnowhereMan]

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What do all you guys think?

 

[shauner111]

He's not a good actor. But he still has strengths. It's a weird situation

Im not even sure how to pinpoint what his strengths are, but he has some. And only a few directors in this world have been able to accentuate those strengths and hide his weaknesses. John Wick is the best example of accentuating Keanu's strengths.

Im not sure if i would call him a bad actor. He has given terrible performances but that doesn't make him a terrible actor overall.

 

[KnowhereMan]

He's not a good actor. But he still has strengths. It's a weird situation

Im not even sure how to pinpoint what his strengths are, but he has some. And only a few directors in this world have been able to accentuate those strengths and hide his weaknesses. John Wick is the best example of accentuating Keanu's strengths.

Im not sure if i would call him a bad actor. He has given terrible performances but that doesn't make him a terrible actor overall.

Did you see Knock Knock?

 

[StarLord]

He was bad in Knock Knock, but the whole movie was kinda awful, so I wouldn't blame him for that.

John Wick has clearly highlighted his strengths. Looking forward to the next one.

 

[Fincher]

He's good at playing a California dude, like in Bill & Ted and Parenthood.

 

[Rowsdower!]

In the right role, he's perfect:
The Matrix
John Wick
The Devil's Advocate
Speed
Point Break
Bill & Ted
The Gift (2000)

In the wrong role, he's awful:
Johnny Mnemonic
The Lake House
DANGEROUS LIAISONS OMG WTF
Little Buddha

 

[kguillou]

Keanu's one of those actors that has a certain presence to him that he is able to skate by on. Arnold Schwarzenneger is not a good actor but he has this undeniable screen presence and charm that he makes work for him. Keanu is the same situation.

 

[DarkKnight]

Keanu is like Nic Cage, not a great actor imo but very entertaining! After all.... they are also both immortal LOL

 

[Rowsdower!]

Eh, I'd say Keanu is a better actor than Arnold. Arnold can't play anything but a robot or a giant goober. Keanu at least displayed SOME range (badass cop, abusive redneck, computer hacker turned global savior, party dude).

 

[Mandon Knight]

Yes, within his constraints. The advantage as he's 'matured' as an actor is he knows his limitations and knows to play on a personna created by his natural acting style and concentrates on that whilst not extending a role that doesn't suit = wise chap.

 

[superboy13]

Eh, I'd say Keanu is a better actor than Arnold. Arnold can't play anything but a robot or a giant goober. Keanu at least displayed SOME range (badass cop, abusive redneck, computer hacker turned global savior, party dude).

Maggie proves you wrong.

And to answer the thread topic: he's the good kind of bad.

 

[second herald]

A good actor is any actor that knows their limits and doesn't step outside of them more than necessary.
Actors have to make a living like the rest of us so they end up with roles that don't suit them quite a bit.

Keanu is best when playing a stoic character or an idiot. He does a good job when he needs to be rather unlikable as well. He did a good job as Dr. Julian Mercer in Something's Gotta Give.
He was good in Hardball and the Replacements, two movies that seem to get overlooked in his body of work.

 

[gwynplaine]

Good enough. Anyway, he's kinda like a Gary Cooper at this point, maybe not that versatile but also it doesn't really matter.

 

[Rain in Gotham]

Well just watch the guy in Dracula he doesn't deserve to be on the same movie set as gary oldman.

 

[Guts]

[YT]Wc03l3zt3t4[/YT]

 

[childeroland]

Yes, with the right role. It's just that the range of right roles for him is more limited than other well-known actors.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Well just watch the guy in Dracula he doesn't deserve to be on the same movie set as gary oldman.

lol I think that movie probably have his worst acting. His english accent is so bad.

 

[Guts]

Monica Bellucci in Dracula tho.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Good enough. Anyway, he's kinda like a Gary Cooper at this point, maybe not that versatile but also it doesn't really matter.

I think this is an excellent point that rarely gets brought up. In the golden age of cinema (or whatever it's called), many movie stars didn't have great range. They knew their strengths, and they played to them, and audiences ate it up. Humphrey Bogart was pretty much the same in most of his movies. John Wayne might have been the most wooden actor of all time, yet he's revered as a cinematic icon (even if he was a racist turd of a human being, but I digress).

I feel like Keanu's biggest problem as an actor has been occasionally picking roles that were outside of his range (Harker in Dracula for example). Well, that and playing one particular role so early on in his career (Ted) that people have trouble seeing him as anything else, for whatever reason. I think none of us are immune to this sort of thing, though. For example, as great an actor as Paul Giamotti is, every time I see him, I still think, "Pig Vomit."

 

[Greens]

I don't know, but I enjoy his work and that's all that matters to me.

 

[Doctor Octopus]

Monica Bellucci in Dracula tho.

Only for one scene lol.

 

[Sundancer]

The only movie where I can recall him really emoting is John Wick. He's great in action movies--Man of Tai Chi, Point Break, John Wick. I even liked him in 47 Ronin though the movie was subpar.

 

[Sundancer]

He was good in Hardball and the Replacements, two movies that seem to get overlooked in his body of work.

I would add Constantine. He was pretty good in that imo.

 

[Isildur´s Heir]

Only for one scene lol.

Correction: The best scene

Lez FTW

In the right role, he's perfect (...) In the wrong role, he's awful:

100 times this

An actor that depends on the role and not on his skills is NOT a good actor, but he is also not a BAD one.
His female counterpart is Milla Jovovich.

 

[lime]

No, he is not.