"Maybe he had a nose job and became someone else?"
- buzeeworkerant on Keanu
the characters
The function of this page is three-fold:
1) To try and put to rest once and for all the folks who keep insisting that all of Keanu's forty-plus characters are exactly the same, because they're not. No matter how much I try, I cannot imagine John Constantine doing air guitar without my brain threatening implosion.
2) Co-stars and others who have worked with Keanu have reported him going very dilligently through each script and scribbling out huge stacks of notes about his characters that put their own meagre research to shame. We hope to do some justice to that.
3) To draw some attention to the fact that the writers of the movies he acted in had as much to do with the characters - if not more so - than he did, and slamming his performances as all alike is not only an insult to Keanu, but to those writers as well. Which isn't fair to them. And people wonder why there was a strike.
With regard to this, pianoman17 argued that people accuse Keanu of playing his characters alike, rather than that his characters were all the same. A brief trot around the usual ponds showed otherwise - on the IMDb boards of upcoming remake The Day the Earth Stood Still, a fish had written a short script involving Keanu chanelling the much-mistreated Ted.
Point stands.
Everything written here is the result of what we have come up with solely by watching the movies and Keanu's performance. No scripts or interviews were consulted, except in cases when the aforementioned had already been seen prior to writing this. Other than that, everything here is purely what was conveyed by Keanu.
This page is at present a work in progress, and more characters will probably be added in future once we stop collectively procrastinating.
Authors of This Page: Anakin McFly, LuxuriantN, stellala, lefty10 & keanugirl76
Banners made by Anakin McFly after much procrastination using the completely free GIMP, because Adobe Photoshop is evil and wants your money.
Alex Wyler
Donnie Barksdale
Jjaks Clayton
John Constantine
Johnny Utah
Kevin Lomax
Matt of the Non-Existent Last Name
Scott Favor
Siddharta
Thomas 'Neo' Anderson
Ted 'Theodore' Logan
The Lake House
Anakin McFly: Generally a nice guy of the sort that tend to pop up in romance films: friendly, understanding, caring and kind, but also the sort who are doomed to fairly boring lives. At least, the kind of boring lives that can be had while living in a house with a time travelling mailbox. Those things are cool.
He would probably make a good father. And his kids would probably all have more interesting lives than his.
I shall stop knocking the poor chap now.
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LuxuriantN: To me, Alex is living someone else's life. He is going through the motions because he hasn't yet found the direction he wants to take. Desperate not to be like the father he both respects and despises, he is resisting the path that his life seems set to follow if he does nothing to change it.
His character seems pretty selfish initially - he manages to totally disregard the obvious infatuation of his office assistant as well as the needs of an ageing father who doesnt know how to change. He also seems oblivious to the pain his brother goes through due to the distance between Alex and his father.
His attraction to Kate comes about due to her unattainability IMO. Alex is a person in longing and being unable to have her fits into his expectation of life, after all - he wants his mother back, as well as the father he thought he had as a boy (which is why the picture in the book is so painful for him - he realises that his father WAS the man he wanted him to be IMO).
The arrival of the dog begins a period of re-awakening for Alex of needs that he has supressed for years as well as the end of a period of mourning - both for his deceased mother and for the father he thought was lost to him.
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lefty10: When I watched The Lake House for the second time, I was more touched by the story between Alex and his father. Alex did not actually want to forgive his father although he said he had tried. He never stopped resenting his father for his ignorance of his beloved mother, especially her death. Although he still respected him and talked to him, the emotional communication was cautiously hidden. His father always loved Alex. Even though a gap was hard to come across, they shared the same strong loving for architecture and the same incredible talent. I even feel the father loved Alex more than Henry because Alex was more like him. But his father was much more aggressive in personality. Career was placed ahead of family in his heart. He did not show emotions easily. Alex knew but refused to accept it.
When the father had a heart attack and stayed in the hospital, he was still passionate about the architecture. When Alex answered the question about lighting and building, he showed obvious appreciation and was very proud. He was excited to talk about his life-long understanding of architecture and nature. At the moment, Alex was willing to look at his father with a different perspective. When he received the book from Kate and saw the old picture of father and son, he finally understood his father and was motivated to grasp a chance for his love with Kate.
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stellala: Alex is less a three-dimensional character than the ideal lover. He is beautiful, sensitive, talented, smart, sensual, financially secure, and faithful. He falls in love after a series of letters, a single dance and a kiss. He is faithful to the kiss: he waits four years for Kate, and he'd probably wait forever. He has the required prestigious but difficult background, as he's had his Kerouac days and horrific family problems. His dad, however, is a world-famous architect and Alex and his brother eventually move into a posh office in Chicago. A good match for Kate the physician. A good match for anyone.
So...he's pretty, sensitive, talented, and well-to-do and absolutely faithful. What more can any woman want?
The Gift
Anakin McFly: Angry and confused. The confusion makes him angrier. He doesn't like that.
He likes yelling, though. Volume is always useful in getting points across. Simple-minded fellow. Would be fun to poke with sticks.
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LuxuriantN:I don't agree that he is angry and confused. This character is very sure that he is right in whatever he says or does. He uses anger to control his enviroment and people around him in a very calculated manner.
I also dont think he 'likes' yelling. He only raises his voice when people who should be doing what he 'told' them, ignore his commands.
He is also far from simple minded. His methods are simplistic (almost neanderthal) but his aims are complex. He manages to control his wife whilst having affairs himself as well as convincing the local police that he is not guilty of harrassing Annie. He also has enough insight to realise just 'how' to scare Annie by tapping into something that he knows she believes in.
He also manages to manipulate his wife into forgiving him for his affair and believing he is innocent as well as convincing her to betray Annie.
Donnie has found that aggression gets him what he wants and I think its a tool he uses, not a part of his character. He also realises that he is hot property for the women in a small town such as his and that his peers look up to him. This has made him arrogant and greedy.
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Anakin McFly: I haven't watched The Gift, and somehow the couple or so pics I saw of Donnie gave off angry and confused vibes... but anyway. Is he still fun to poke with sticks?
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LuxuriantN: Yes, I think he would be fun to poke with sticks lol (if you were gonna do it though, I would suggest you make sure your exit is clear).
Feeling Minnesota
LuxuriantN: I feel Jjaks is the most honorable character in this film. Although initially, he is introduced as the black sheep of a dysfunctional family, he is actually the only one with any honour.
Despite the appalling treatment he put up with his whole life from his brother, he still attends his wedding. His Mother's disappointment at his failure to bring a gift for his brother moments after seeing him again for the first time in ages, sums up his relationship with her.
True, he has sex with his brother's new bride on their wedding day - but anyone who has seen the film will know he wasnt the instigator of this (hilarious)situation.
That is actually a theme repeated throughout the movie - Jjaks being dragged into a set of circumstances to please other people - or having to fight hard to get himself out of sticky situations brought about by others.
The fights between the brothers are very funny...but rather than actually disliking each other, I feel they are simply acting out feelings left over from their childhood and the friction caused between them by their mother. A mother who left them both with emotional burdens.
We come to see that Jjaks is actually the more fortunate one with regard to the relationship with his mother as he has been able to avoid her manipulation most of his life - and is therefore a much more stable adult than his brother.
Jjaks doesnt get any lucky breaks in life - and even his love (lust?) at first sight relationship with Cameron Diaz' character, costs him dearly.
A great film with Keanu at his cutest/funniest. The other performances are fabulous too. Strongly recommended - although I should warn you that those with a slightly left of centre sense of humour will enjoy it the most.
Constantine
Anakin McFly: He hates the system and how everything works. At the same time he knows that he can't do anything to change it, and this helplessness fuels his anger even more. Fortunately for him, the world is rife with evil halfling creature things for him to kill and/or send to Hell.
John is pretty sure that the world doesn't like him, for the simple reason that he doesn't like it and assumes that the feeling is mutual. Somewhere inside he feels vulnerable, hates that, and protects himself from it by going on the offensive.
He is defiant of authority - even if said authority happens to be God or something - and does not wish to be told how to live his life, even if stubbornly going his own way might be to his detriment. He would still rather do that than have to bend to someone else's will.
John thinks of most people as inferior individuals who know nothing, and who would probably go insane if they knew half the things he did. He takes some sadistic pride in this.
He doesn't just think that life sucks; he knows it.
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LuxuriantN: John's life (and death) experiences, as well as what he has seen, have hardened him. He sees everything as some kind of sick joke. He is not a cruel man, but has long since closed off his heart to the thought of redemption and a greater good. Even the God - which he does believe in - seems a manipulative force involved in a game of oneupmanship with the devil.
He mistrusts 'goodness' when he sees it, as he has no reason to believe it exists. His callous treatment of Angela is both a wake up call for her (in his opinion) and gives him a perverse sense of comfort - i.e. the fate that awaits him, awaits all 'sinners'.
Again - there is a period of re-awakening (a theme in Keanu's films??) - where he begins to feel for Angela and her twin's plight. Also, the loss of the few people who could ever consider as friends makes him re-evaluate his motives - his fight becomes more about doing the right thing than simply avoiding Lou's clutches.
John has always been noble, although he would not view it that way. He had no choice in whether he could 'see' or not, so he would not consider anything he does as a result of this as a personal characteristic. His sacrifice at the end is something he has always been capable of, he just hadn't seen anything worthy of such a sacrifice until that very moment.
Point Break
keanugirl76: Of course Point Break is an action movie, but it’s full of a sort of “wild philosophy” as well. Its main character, Johnny Utah, is a young FBI agent who has just ended his training and he’s ready to face his job and all the duties it requires. He’s very determined to pursuit success; he’s self-confident, daredevil and enthusiast. He wants to reach his aim – that is catching a gang of bank robbers - at any cost. In order to do this, he has to undercover to infiltrate in their surfing community. But his friendship with Bodhi, the gang leader, creates an internal struggle in him.
He and Bodhi have opposite roles in society. Johnny’s is keeping control and order, while Bodhi’s is rebelling against the social system that he believes it kills human spirit and freedom. In spite of his responsibility as an agent, Johnny finds himself attracted to Bodhi’s adrenaline-charged lifestyle. He finds totally at his ease while surfing in the water or floating in the air with his new friends. Usually nervous, it’s just in the sea where he relaxes and turns “almost happy”. And Bodhi likes him, as he thinks Johnny is very similar to him. Intelligent, brilliant, his mind as sharp as a blade. And crazy.
So his investigations into the gang lead him to discover his hidden, wild side, and this conflict will be evident until the end. Surfing has proven to be a real revelation for him, in all senses.
On the other hand, he never forgets he’s an agent with a precise aim, and he’s so determined in this, that, thanks to his bravery and passion he almost risks his life in order not to let Bodhi escape.
But once his aim is reached, his wild spirit tells him that it isn’t the right solution, and maybe that his role as an agent may not be right for him as well. So he accepts Bodhi’s will.
This is one of the first movies in which Keanu plays his “classical role”, in which he’s always very good at - a character in conflict between opposites; reason and instinct, order and freedom, right and wrong things. But what is right and what is wrong in the end?
The Devil's Advocate
stellala: An odd take on the everyman character, torn between God (mommy) and Satan (daddy). I am a medievalist, I saw this film before becoming a Keanu fan, and I was so surprised to see such a character in a modern film.
Lomax has his virtues: he loves his wife and his mother; he knows what is good and what is evil; he knows that as a human being he has free will to choose good over evil. However, being a fallen human being (and the Son of Satan to boot) Lomax is sinful: he is vain, and he is lustful.
All this makes him a delightful catch for Daddy Satan, who plays his son's character the way Hendrix played the guitar. The script makes it clear that Kevin always knows which choices are evil, and which choices are good. However, after leaving his mommy's influence, under his daddy's tutelage, Kevin makes one bad choice after another. He is lustful: he chooses the red-head over his wife. He is vain: he chooses his career over his wife and chooses to defend murderers and pedophiles. His actions drive his wife to suicide, which drives Kevin to his final confrontation with his dad, when Kevin finally redeems himself.
However, Kevin is everyman, and traditionally, everyman faces temptation as long as he lives. When the film ends, we know that yet another cycle of temptation is beginning for poor Kevin, we really haven't a clue how this one will end.
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LuxuriantN: I believe Kevin knows right from wrong - but he also believes that one can use a dirty system whilst keeping ones hands clean. He isn't responsible for the behaviour of his clients - after all, the crime has already been committed by the time he meets them.
He finds it easy to ignore his conscience as it usually comes in the form of the voice of his overly religiously zealous mother. Any discomfort from the way he lives his life or makes his money is put down to his childhood and ignored.
Also, when his wife begins to break down, her very reasonable discomfort and worry is lost behind her growing insanity. Her fears are ignored as they come from such an unstable source. (I disagree with a previous poster who said he drove his wife to suicide - he simply wasn't aware that the things she spoke of were really happening. Had he known IMO, he would have saved her).
Kevin is also being blinded by ambition and lust. The case of his lifetime as well as the attentions of a woman who he lusts after (thanks to his dad) and the interest of his charismatic and demanding new boss, ensure he is very involved in a world where there is no place for his wife.
Kevin's eyes are opened at the movie's climax and we see, that even when faced with an easy choice of getting everything he ever wanted, the loss of the woman he loved forces him to chose to do the right thing. I also believe that this is the ultimate challenge and, as we know, Kevin does not like to lose. The only way to beat Milton is to deprive him of the thing he needs.
The movie ends with a period of rebirth (see what I mean? lol) and a 2nd chance to fail...
River's Edge
Anakin McFly: Like most teenagers out there, he's frustrated with life and feels generally misunderstood and neglected. Injustice in his own life makes him want to put things right where he can, so as not to cause more problems. He is disillusioned with the world and rebels against it; yet his rebellion is borne out of a disatisfaction with life and its stupidities rather than out of a desire to look cool.
He feels responsible for his siblings, seeing as how their mother isn't doing that good of a job. He cares especially for his younger sister, and doesn't like the idea of her having to grow up in the present society.
Yet at the same time he knows that it is that society that has made him and is what gives him his identity and security in knowing his place in life. He could have been a better person in better circumstances.
My Own Private Idaho
stellala: Rich boy who goes slumming, Scott is ambitious and willing to sacrifice those around him to get ahead in whatever world he finds himself. Though he leaves his family, he has no intention of losing his inheritance or his family's political clout. He uses the promise of this inheritance to gain Bob's trust, which gives him prestige in Bob's world.
Bob's world, however, is less promising for an ambitious man than politics. By the time we meet Scott, he is almost of age, bored with Bob, and ready to return to his family. Before he does so, he decides to have one last adventure: he will help Mike find his long-lost mother. Mike is an ideal companion: Scott likes Mike as much as he is capable of liking anyone, and on some level he does want to help Mike find his mom. I think that the campfire scene and Mike's confession of love shock Scott but don't change his mind. Ultimately, whatever he feels for Mike is immaterial. He is determined to leave Mike's world and enter another, and he has no intention of taking Mike with him into that world.
By the end of the film, Scott has betrayed almost every person in the film other than his Italian girl friend. He ditches Mike in a hotel room in Italy, with plane tickets to the States. This is probably the nicest thing he will ever do for people like Mike. His response to reading about his dad's death is to smile. He betrays Bob, lying to his family about his past at the same time. I think of Scott as Van Sant's idea of a young politician: politicians can't be heroic. They are unreliable betrayers of public trust.
Little Buddha
keanugirl76: Even though Prince Siddhartha is not the main protagonist in Little Buddha, undoubtedly he’s the leading thread of this movie. He enters the scene and comes out of it with elegance, humility and simplicity. His story is told as a sort of fairy tale and it’s not pretentious at all, as it never overcomes – it doesn’t want to – the rest of the movie. It’s majestic and humble, just like the way the Hindu Prince indeed is.
He connects time and space – present America with present and old Bhutan – and people. Thanks to his story written a book, a modern child and his parents family get acquainted with him. His myth is the mean by which a group of monks spreads successfully their – and his – message: consider beings not for the way they look, but for their intimate essence; respect all the aspects of life by concentrating on any detail, as even the smallest has its own precise meaning and is part of the infinity; accept anything, included sorrow, disease and death, with humility and serenity, just as the local – modern and old – people do.
Indeed, in spite of extreme conditions of poverty and suffering, Oriental world is represented like a rich land, especially in warm colours like gold and orange - which can be noticed even on Siddhartha’s skin – smartly used to represent the spiritual wealth of its inhabitants.
On the contrary, Western world is shown mainly in blue and grey, in order to emphasize its extreme rationalism and the lack of spiritual values in spite of rich material conditions. Jesse’s house, for instance, is big and comfortable, but cold and dark as well.
Of course Prince Siddharta is predestined and gifted since his birth and he could have lived happy, protected and rich in his palace and become a great king, but it’s his condition of humble, ordinary man - just like the ones he chooses to spend his life with - that, at the end, allows him to reach enlightenment. His humility, patience and tolerance are the weapons through which he faces the dark sides of life, such as threats, intimidation, temptation, doubt, fear. So unmoved and unperturbed he achieves great peacefulness and compassion, through self-detachment from illusions.
Keanu is great in this role. He’s handsome – of course like classical princes should be – and very expressive. He doesn’t talk a lot and he has to sit still most of the time, yet he manages to convey all Siddhartha’s typical moral features just with a deep glance – which really seems to reach infinity – and a simple, peaceful smile. The portrayal of this mystique figure - as well as his complexity – in very few words and gestures, could have been a very difficult test for Keanu, who, on the contrary, passed it excellently.
This proves, once again, his versatility.
The Matrix trilogy
Anakin McFly: A highly private person who prefers solitude and isn't too comfortable in social situations. They make him feel self-conscious - he can be easily embarrassed - and besides he'd rather be around his computer engaged in illegal activities. He usually keeps his thoughts to himself; in the exceptions, he withdraws even more after outbursts of emotion. His grief is private; he wishes not to burden others with his own problems.
Neo is a quiet rebel against things he deems unimportant. His day job is just something he does either for a steady salary, out of habit, or as a cover. That life is otherwise ignored; the only life he really cares about is the one where he goes by the name of Neo, because that life and that identity is his own creation and thus under his full control. He likes that.
He is a reluctant leader, but at the same time knows his duty and will carry it out if he believes in it. He is determined and not easily swayed by others once he has made up his mind. He plans ahead.
He dislikes change or any kind of shock to his perceived notion of how the universe works. Most of his life was spent with the feeling that things were not quite right. He didn't know why, and he didn't like it. When he asks questions, the purpose isn't so much to learn more, but more for the ability to re-assort the very confusing universe back into convenient and predictable little boxes that make sense.
He is human. He has his doubts, he doesn't have all the answers, and what he wants more than anything else is for people to tell him what's going on. He has so many people expecting him to be something special, but he himself doesn't think he is special and has to deal with all these expectations he doesn't think himself capable of fulfilling. He is afraid that he might let them all down. The best leaders are those who think themselves unsuited for the job, and that is Neo.
He needed time before he could come to accept the part he was meant to play. There needed to be no epiphany. It was a gradual learning process that had carried on throughout the film as Neo grew to better understand himself and his place in the greater story, and only in the end did he come to finally believe in himself and be the hero that everyone saw him as.
Meanwhile, his expressions are marked with an almost perpetual undercurrent of stress. Neo takes everything too seriously and really needs to lighten up.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey
Anakin McFly: "[Ted is] a child of the woods, a real dreamer, and a bit naive." - Keanu Reeves
Not exactly the brightest teenager out there, but what he lacks in IQ he makes up for with EQ and an interesting vocabulary. He's a nice guy: friendly, helpful, generous, honest except in mischief, selfless, and expects no personal gain from any of that. He holds no grudges.
Ted is easily awed and impressed by things. He goes through life with a sense of childlike wonder at stuff that the average person wouldn't find particularly interesting or significant. He has a sense of innocence about him that would probably persist even if he were engaging in various crimes and vices such as serial killing, because there would probably be some kind of justification for those acts that would make sense in Ted-logic and turn out to have ulterior motives of the mostly-good kind.
Like his best friend Bill, he is free of prejudices; he always sees the good in others, and almost everyone is a potential friend (with the possible exception of royal ugly dudes and suchlike). He has a strong sense of right and wrong, and holds a faint puzzlement towards why anyone would choose the latter.
Most of the time - especially in school - his mind is elsewhere, leading him to be cheerfully oblivious of what's going on around him. He's also kind of gullible; he trusts others too easily, and misplaced trust could have the potential to hurt him most. Yet somehow he survives. Ted will prevail. \o/
He can't play guitar, but that doesn't stop him from trying anyway. Which is good for him but not so good for those that have to listen.