Keanu Reeves may be considered one of the best actors of all time, having landed his breakout role in the 80s (critics have praised Reeves’ performance in the 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons) and starring in several Oscar-nominated films. Years later, Reeves also went on to headline two of Hollywood’s most successful film franchises of all time, namely The Matrix and John Wick movies. Not to mention, the actor also voiced the character of Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4, Toy Story’s most successful film at the box office so far.
As hard as it may be to imagine, however, there are certain Reeves films that were poorly received over the years. In fact, these movies even have rather dismal ratings on IMDb.
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, 4.3
Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant is normally associated with critically acclaimed films such as Milk, Good Will Hunting, Drugstore Cowboy, and Promised Land. Back in the '90s, however, Van Sant also helmed the Uma Thurman starrer Even Cowgirls Get the Blues and to this day, some wonder why the film was even made in the first place.
Just like every film, this one was done with the best of intentions. Based on a novel (just like several hit films and series), the film sees Thurman portray a gorgeous hitchhiker who eventually crosses paths with Reeves’ artist character, Julian Glitche. And while the two may look good together onscreen but that’s not enough to salvage the movie from complete failure.
Exposed, 4.3
Reeves starred in this drama alongside Ana de Armas and Christopher McDonald. Despite their collective star power though, the movie flops. Here, Reeves stars as a detective who finds his fellow detective and close friend murdered in the subway. And as his character investigates this mysterious death, more fatalities occur.
Unlike similar cop thrillers, this one comes with a bizarre twist. In the movie, de Armas plays a woman who is convinced that she was visited by an angel. Several critics have pointed out the film’s plot barely makes sense and even viewers themselves have provided similar feedback.
It is possible that the movie was a failure because Lionsgate Premiere edited the film without the approval of its writer and original director Gee Malik Linton. There was also a deliberate effort to steer the movie into a Reeves cop thriller instead of a dual language (English and Spanish) sociopolitical drama as originally intended. In fact, the movie that came out didn’t exactly follow the original script that Linton had written for it. “I think it’s certainly not as realized – a lot of the Spanish is different, some of the other worlds has been diminished,” Reeves explained while speaking with IGN. “I think the kernel or the intention of the piece is still there, but maybe its intention certainly is not as fully realized as the director had hoped.”
Siberia, 4.3
In recent years, Reeves may have been busy working on the John Wick franchise but that doesn’t mean he won’t pursue passion projects when the opportunity presents itself. In this romantic thriller, Reeves plays an American diamond merchant who travel to Russia to sell some rare blue diamonds. When he gets there, however, things go south. And in the midst of all the danger, Reeves find himself falling for an owner of a café in small town in Siberia.
For Reeves, taking on a role like this made a lot of sense. “You know, he’s married, he’s a diamond dealer, he ends up having an affair, he ends up falling in love, he’s trying to keep his world together and it’s falling apart,” Reeves explained of his character while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter. “I liked all of the dramatic possibilities of that.” And while critics have noted that Reeves's performance in the movie was spot-on, they also maintained that the film was unimpressive overall.
Generation Um…, 4.0
In this 2012 drama, Reeves portrays a man named John who is living in New York with two beautiful women. The film sees this trio navigate life amidst all the drugs, sex, and indecision. For Reeves, the film was more than a mere acting gig for him since he also got to do some camera work and some of the actor’s footage can be seen in the movie itself.
For Reeves, this was one of the reasons that he agreed to do the movie. “It was my first time [shooting]. When I heard that I was going to be able to shoot [the footage he shoots is actually in the film] instead of a cinematographer, it sounded really interesting and it was something I was really enthusiastic about,” the actor told Elle in an interview. “If was fun. You get to learn the character. You see what John sees.” Despite Reeves’ enthusiasm, the film went on to be Reeves’ lowest-rated film of all time. Critics have generally dismissed this movie as uninteresting.
Today, Reeves is hard at work on future installments of both The Matrix and John Wick movies. Hence, it’s safe to stay that he won’t disappointing anyone onscreen anytime soon.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiroZ2jmnqivsRmop6Znqp6s7HEr5ysZaekv7TAjKamr6GVqHqir8KoqZ2hnpx6tbuMoqSdml8%3D