For the past 4 years, I’ve been part of a group text called Keanu Reeves Cult. It was a funny name, almost a joke name based on our love for the movie Point Break, but 2 months ago, me and another member of the group decided to take our designation seriously. We’ve been doing a deep dive of Keanu’s full filmography, from his oddball early roles to his most serious modern masterpieces. I’ll be reviewing the entire filmography briefly as we go to let you know what’s a must-watch, a must-watch, or a must-watch so that, should you feel so inclined, you too can enjoy the work of one of the greatest actors of our generation.
1986 - 1990
For the first batch of movies, we’ll be covering 6 films from the late 80s that got Keanu’s career kick-started. This will likely be the weirdest batch of movies I cover in this series, as it has become apparent to me that you could literally greenlight any script in the 80s. (Seriously, anything.) There will be one slight deviation here, as I included Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey despite it being a ‘91 release in order to keep the series grouped together.
River’s Edge (86)
Keanu’s career starts with a bang (I am so sorry). River’s Edge is the story of Matt, a guy living in a small town with a bunch of dumbass metalhead stoner friends. When a member of the group murders his own girlfriend for “talking shit” (not kidding, direct quote) and shows literally everyone the body, the group scrambles to either A) keep him from getting arrested or B) stay the hell out of it.
This movie walks the line between being kind of heavy and really dumb. Keanu’s character does the whole “morally challenged teen” thing...sort of well? No one’s mind will be blown here, but it’s a great watch just to see Crispin Glover do a terrible terrible acting job.
Movie Grade: 7/10
Keanu Character Grade: B
The Night Before (88)
Truthfully, this one blew me away. I didn’t research this claim at all, but The Night Before feels like the spiritual precursor to and a massive influence of The Hangover. The movie finds Keanu waking up in an alley with no memory of the titular night before, including why he was out or where he is. He slowly remembers that last night was prom and that his date is missing, and chaos ensues from there. That’s all I’ll say.
The beauty of this movie is just how far they take everything. The ending is a Hollywood ending, and you can see it coming, but everything leading up to it is a jerky wooden roller coaster: you’re so whiplashed from the turns that you’re not sure how you ended up where you are, but you know you had a damn good time getting here. This was probably my favorite movie from this period of Keanu’s career just due to sheer “what the fuck” factor. My only complaint about this one is that they tried to make Keanu Reeves out as a nerd that wasn’t appealing to girls. Ha, okay.
Take all of this with a grain of salt of course because my sense of humor leans towards the idiotic, but The Night Before is certainly worth an hour and a half of your life.
Movie Grade: 9/10
Keanu Character Grade: B+
Permanent Record (88)
This one is the first movie that takes serious subject matter in a serious direction (looking at you, River’s Edge). Permanent Record finds us following a group of teens about to graduate from high school. When one member of the group dies unexpectedly, the rest have to try and deal with it while maintaining their goals and responsibilities. It’s a slow start, but the movie gets fairly interesting after the death happens.
For Keanu, this marks the first time he plays a character that is at all serious in any way. His character goes through an onslaught of emotional turmoil while trying to deal with the guilt of his friend’s death. He doesn’t lose the early Keanu punk ass kid role, but he does have to integrate in some actual feelings which he does pretty well. It isn’t my favorite movie in this batch, but through an unbiased lens it’s probably the best acting out of them.
Movie Grade: 7/10
Keanu Character Grade: A-
Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (89)
Well, here we are at the mecca of early Keanu movies. If you haven’t seen this absolute banger, I’m not sure what to tell you besides San Dimas High School football rules! I hadn’t seen this one in a couple of years, and I truly forgot how wonderful something can be when you combine a nonsensical plot with a deluge of beautifully-crafted quotes. This movie’s dialogue never stops churning out hysterical phrases, and it’s no wonder that it ended up being such a cult classic. I can’t recommend revisiting this one enough. After all, strange things are afoot at the Circle K.
As for Ted Theodore Logan, this movie is Keanu in his happy place. His character is a California space cadet with eccentric mannerisms, budding guitar skills, a positive attitude, and an ocean of goofy quotes. It’s a culmination of everything we love about early Keanu all rolled into one excellent character. Wyld Stallyns forever.
Movie Grade: 10/10
Keanu Character Grade: A
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (91)
Here, things get weird. Bogus Journey had the unenviable task of following a masterpiece, and honestly it did its best. A Wyld-Stallyn-hating rebel from the future sends back evil robot versions of Bill S. Preston, Esquire, and Ted Theodore Logan to eliminate them and change the future, and after Bill & Ted are killed they must find a way to come back to life and restore order. There are some memorable bits in this one, such as Death being a sore loser and the evil versions themselves, but a lot of this movie is just confusing chaos. It’s fun, but the new weirdness costs the movie a lot of its character charm.
Keanu does his thing with Ted once more, but I really thought the evil version (which he also plays) was the more interesting character this time around. Something about seeing the happy, goofy Ted being portrayed with a similar attitude but excessively dickish gave me a good laugh. Other than that though, there’s nothing really new here.
Movie Grade: 7/10
Keanu Character Grade: B for Ted, B+ for Evil Ted.
Tune in Tomorrow (90)
This one was an absolute pain in the ass to find & watch, but holy hell was it worth it (I now have a YouTube playlist that runs the full movie, feel free to ask for it). I will do my absolute best to compress this insane plot into a few sentences: Keanu’s character works at a radio station in New Orleans as a writer. Two big things happen at once: Keanu’s aunt...former aunt...uncle’s ex...? Keanu’s “aunt” moves to town, and simultaneously the radio station hires famed writer Pedro Carmicheal to write their serial show. Keanu develops a crush on his aunt, acts on it, and Carmichael uses their romance as inspiration for his show. Yes, that is the core plot of this movie.
The whole thing is laced with unending weirdness. Carmichael is absurdly racist against Albanians, Keanu and the aunt constantly deal with the moral struggle of their situation, and neither of the things I just listed are dealt with in a serious way whatsoever. It’s a whimsical ride through the most ridiculous set up ever, and damn if it isn’t fun.
Keanu stumbles a bit here on character, but it isn’t entirely his fault. While it’s true that his Southern accent is atrocious, he’s largely a victim of bad writing. He also has the impossible task of trying to stand up to the character of Carmicheal, which is simply impossible. That guy steals the show effortlessly. It’s a must-watch for him alone.
Movie Grade: 8/10
Keanu Character Grade: B
That does it for the first block of movies, early ‘90s coming soon. Check some of these out if you haven’t already, and if you have seen them send me your thoughts. I’m always down to talk Keanu. Stay excellent, friends.