In defence of Keanu: humanity’s gentle emissary, who never claimed to be a great actor

There are some provocations with which one cannot put up. When my own newspaper published an article last week, ostensibly marking the 30th anniversary of the seminal 1991 Cali-surf-action movie Point Break, but really using this as a hook to traduce its star, Keanu Reeves, my limit was reached.

The article’s author, my colleague, the revered cricket writer and novelist Malcolm Knox, said the movie’s main crime, apart from its “death spiral” plot, was the acting of its star. Reeves was a “thumpingly terrible actor” and “sometimes the whole movie feels like a prank at his expense”, Knox wrote. He was unable to make his lines “sound like they’re spoken by a sentient being” and watching the movie, “you pity him”.

Ordinarily, I love to read brutal film reviews – they remind one that failure is part of the artistic process, and also, mockery can be fun. But in this case, my respect for Knox is equalled only by the vehemence with which I disagree with him.

First, I declare an interest. I have been an ardent Keanu fan since I went to a cinema in 1991 and saw him on screen in My Own Private Idaho with River Phoenix. I probably shouldn’t have been watching it – it’s an art film about two rent boys and I was under age. But it wasn’t seamy, it was dreamy and tender, and it was the first depiction of queer sex I ever saw on screen. It was controversial for its time and it could have destroyed Reeves’ career before it even began, but Reeves has never cared for such worldly concerns.

I have seen Keanu’s band, Dogstar, play. Twice. And when he was in Sydney filming The Matrix, I believe he glanced at me once in Martin Place.

Reeves has never claimed to be a great actor; he humbly submits that he loves movies, and he loves making movies, and given that people love to see his movies, his mark on the world has been firmly struck in the column of love, and happiness, and dreamy eyes.

Despite being world-famous, Reeves has eluded capture by celebrity culture. He is not on social media, so we are blissfully ignorant of his thoughts on many, many subjects. He seems to promote his movies and then vanish back to his normal Keanu-ish life, which I imagine involves riding his motorbike through the Mojave desert, surfing in remote parts of Central America, and visiting his mother.

Reeves is not into “wellness” and he does not spruik expensive watches. I know nothing about his fitness regime. As far as I know he never threw a phone at anyone’s head and he has not pissed off his neighbours by building a compound. Why should any actor need a compound? You are not the Chechen president. Reeves probably just lives in a house like an ordinary person. On his rider, Reeves would not ask for scented candles or cocaine. On film sets, he probably just takes a beer when he’s offered one, and only after others have been taken care of too.