The comedy movies recommended by Keanu Reeves
In the early 1980s, Keanu Reeves cut his acting teeth on stage with an early occupation at the Hedgerow Theater in Pennsylvania. The first glimmer of Hollywood fame arrived in 1986 after an appearance in Youngblood alongside Rob Lowe. Still, Reeves’ major breakthrough didn’t come until 1989 when he starred in the classic sci-fi comedy Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure alongside Alex Winter.
Subsequently, Reeves attracted top-flight filmmakers of disparate ilks, taking on stand-out roles in 1991’s Point Break and 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula. His iconic role in Point Break allowed him to segue into a career positively littered with action movies and franchises, including Speed, The Matrix and John Wick.
Through the mid-1990s, the young actor impressively balanced his acting aspirations with concerted efforts in the realm of grunge music as the bassist for Dogstar. The band formed in 1991 after Reeves became acquainted with fellow actor and musician Robert Mailhouse. “You know, we started in a garage, and then you end up starting to write songs, and then you’re like, ‘Let’s go out and play them!’ and then you’re like, ‘Let’s go on tour!’ and then… you’re playing,” Reeves told Jimmy Fallon in 2017.
Dogstar maintained a healthy touring presence and released two studio albums during their initial run until 2002. Over the past two decades, Reeves has taken a step back from his music career to focus on Hollywood, but in 2023, he announced a reunion with his old Dogstar bandmates.
Despite his ostensibly preferred role as the fearless action hero, Reeves’ passions and influences roam far and wide; his taste in film is about as discerning as that in music.
In 2021, the Canadian actor picked out some of his favourite movies for a feature with Esquire. Intriguingly, very few of the selections were action movies; instead, it appears that Reeves enjoys thrillers and dark comedy.
Below, we have created a list of the comedies Reeves recommended as some of his favourites. With comedy-horror selections like Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead and Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein, it isn’t difficult to understand why Reeves took on Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Bram Stoker’s Dracula early on in his career.
Keanu Reeves’ favourite comedy movies:
- The Big Lebowski (the Coen brothers, 1998)
- The Evil Dead (Sam Raimi, 1981)
- Blazing Saddles (Mel Brooks, 1974)
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, 1975)
- Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)
- Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks, 1974)
- Raising Arizona (the Coen brothers, 1987)
- Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (Tom Stoppard, 1990)
