[ SECRET POST #2629 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2629 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.

















Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 071 secrets from Secret Submission Post #376.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 - too big ], [ 1 2 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i.imgur.com/gJBmVSd.png

[(Anonymous)]

Did people think he was really bad? Or...

Oh! It's Keanu Reeves, and people think he's bad, period.

Well, if he was supposed to be making Don John something other than a cardboardy villain, he failed. But I have to agree, OP, that I don't think he was supposed to.

[(Anonymous)]

I first watched this film when I was too young to have any preconceived opinion of Keanu Reeves's acting ability beyond thinking he was great in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and I still thought his Don John sucked.

[(Anonymous)]

To be fair, Keanu Reeves IS a lousy actor. If he's not playing a Southern California stoner with a heart of gold, he has no idea what he's doing.

It's a shame because he's such a profoundly nice person that I want to like him professionally, but... hoo boy, he is not very good at his job.

[visp]

I thought he did a good job playing a sulky, petulant jerk who just wanted to fuck shit up because.

[silverr]

He was okay (though to me the real surprise performance was Keaton), but seriously, even if he was merely competent he's going to suffer in comparison to Emma, Kenneth, Denzel, et al.

[(Anonymous)]

Be you good men, and true?

[helenadax]

But I don't think Keanu was the Don Juan you're thinking of. This play was written about 1598 and Tirso de Molina didn't write "The Seducer of Seville and the Stone Guest" (the first appearance of Don Juan) until thirty years later.

[(Anonymous)]

They said Don John, not Don Juan.

[loracarol]

NGL, I really liked him in this movie. He was just so ridiculous!

Like, I felt like he (in-universe) was trying to play an Iago-like role, but assumed it wouldn't work, only then it actually did! ...that-dude-from-House is an idiot.

[(Anonymous)]

I like Keanu Reeves a lot as a person and I don't think it was his worst role ever but I think he was the weakest part of that film (although I don't think he was as terrible as I've heard other people say). I haven't seen it in about five years though, so maybe I'd feel differently if I saw it again.

[silvereriena]

He was just so hammy; I thought it was great. :D The scene where he's doing evil plotting while his servant gives him a backrub is hilarious.

(Also Denzel looks so sassy on that poster).

My favorite version of Much Ado About Nothing!

[elephantinegrace]

That was recorded, anyway, so I can look at Robert Sean Leonard's face again...and again...and again....

Sorry, what were we talking about again?

[(Anonymous)]

I love this movie. Everything about it. Branagh's best work, in my opinion.

[(Anonymous)]

Keanu is really good in this! Everyone is perfect except the guy who plays Claudio. God. Now HE is terrible.

God I love this movie. Favourite Shakespeare film, period.

[(Anonymous)]

It will never not be hilarious to me that in the only scene in which he has significant amounts of dialogue, he's shirtless and oiled. Brannagh knows what his actors' strengths are.

Also, this movie always makes me ship Emma Thompson and Denzel Washington. I can't be the only person who sees it, can I?

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know if he's bad exactly, but for me personally, my disc of the movie had a scratch and kept skipping. It replayed those thirty seconds where he just slams up against a wall and then runs away laughing maniacally over and over and over again before I realized and made it stop. My ability to take him seriously in a Shakespeare play was forever ruined, 'cause that shit was hilarious.

[(Anonymous)]

One of my favourite films! Keanu Reeves never bothered me too much - as a kid I was certainly too busy hating Claudio.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh CRAP.
I love this film version. Have since I saw it first as a teen.
and, fuck it, this secret's discussion is what makes me realize for the first time, that
A) What the fuck, that was K.R.???
B) HOLY crap that guy grew up and played Wilson.

MIND BLOWN


(... and apparently, I'm a bit actor-blind.)

[rbhudson]

Wow, he couldn't have been too good/terrible because I can't remember his performance o.o

[(Anonymous)]

Here's the problem. Don John is, yes, one of Shakespeare's worst villains, memorably described as "a bumbling second-rate Iago." I've seen many different actors take a whack at bringing him to life in an interesting way, and I've seen more fail than succeed. (I have a long and weird relationship with this specific play.)

However, Reeves didn't even try for interesting. He just went with a surface-level reading and failed to sell that. Bless him, he's a wonderful person, but he's just not much of an actor.

[(Anonymous)]

My entire Shakespeare class, including the normally very serious professor, was giggling through his entire performance because he was so bad. Idk, he was so bad it was kind of charming. It's one of the reasons I love that version.

Wow, I’ve seen a lot more of Keanu Reeves’ movies than I’d thought I had.

[(Anonymous)]

He’s a very uneven actor, to me.

Ones that seem to fit well
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Parenthood
Paula Abdul: Rush Rush (Video short) – except for the milk thing
Point Break
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey
Speed
The Matrix

Ones where he was just there
Something's Gotta Give
The Lake House

Ones where he was okay, but the movie was not
The Replacements
The Matrix Reloaded
Constantine

Ones where he was not good
Dangerous Liaisons
Much Ado About Nothing

Ones where the entire movie was not good
Dracula
Johnny Mnemonic
Chain Reaction
The Devil's Advocate
Sweet November

Ones that were just weird
Babes in Toyland (TV Movie)
I Love You to Death
My Own Private Idaho
The Watcher

Sorry, OP, he just wasn't good in that one - I think it was just especially noticeable because of the performances around it.

[(Anonymous)]

I love Keanhu and I've read Much Ado About Nothing and yes Don John is a typical cardboard cut out villain, but I didn't think he was very good in the role. Which makes sense I suppose. Character-wise there isn't much there to begin with and Keanhu doesn't manage to add any layers to an already flat character so the net effect is a net, poorly acted villain.

But he's a relatively minor, if pivotal character so we don't really see all that much of him overall. The one who bothers me most is Robert Sean Leonard, who I do think is a good actor, but who still manages to make an already pretty problematic and unlikeable character even more so with his acting choices. I mean I already don't care about Claudio in the play, but I actively hate him in the film to the point that he and Hero getting together in the end isn't just an eye-rolling annoyance for me it actually ruins the film for me.

[(Anonymous)]

I thought he was OK. It's a lovely film, and he wasn't bad. Don John doesn't really have much going on anyhow, so he fit the role.

I think Keanu clearly can't act, but he moves well on screen, and in some roles what he does works. Especially the Matrix. And of course Bill and Ted.