Keanu Reeves picks his four favourite movies
During the promotional tour for John Wick: Chapter 4, Keanu Reeves was asked about his favourite films of all time. After shielding himself from the rain, Reeves singled out a collection of movies which he thought made the biggest impact on him growing up.
Reeves’ first choice included David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Arriving as Lynch’s first major picture, the film features the story of a man dealing with an internal crisis when faced with the thought of parenthood. Lynch had always been a big inspiration for Reeves and they both got to talk about their approach to film in the documentary Side by Side in 2012.
Reeves also singled out the Star Wars franchise as one of his major inspirations. The world of Jedi and Sith Lords has been going strong for the past five decades, with Reeves even rumoured to be playing Sith Lord Darth Revan in an upcoming project detailing The Old Republic. While there has been no guarantee, Reeves’ Matrix colleague Carrie-Ann Moss has been confirmed for the upcoming series Star Wars: The Acolyte, which takes place at the end of The High Republic era.
Reeves’ other major pick included The Godfather franchise. The story of Michael Corleone’s villainous rise to power has been praised by critics over the years, and Reeves would eventually act alongside Al Pacino in the 1997 supernatural horror, The Devil’s Advocate. Despite being cast as one of the lead roles, Pacino originally didn’t sign on to do the film due to the script being incomplete but came around to the script when seeing what he could do with the character of John Milton.
Reeves would later call the entire movie a learning experience, recalling his work with Pacino, saying: “I knew by working with [him] I could only raise my game, so to speak. We work in totally different ways but our relationship was, for me anyway, fantastic. I had some of the best times of my life with him”.
Pacino also played a pivotal role in Reeves’s final pick, 1973’s Serpico. The real-life drama tells the tale of New York police officer Frank Serpico and his struggle with corruption in his division. Prior to filming, Pacino mentioned meeting with Serpico to inhabit the role, telling GQ, “I knew there was something I could paint there. There was something that I could sort of serve. He had an earring, long hair, and was strange looking. But he had a look in his eye that I thought, ‘there it is’”.
Reeves would go on to play a number of police officers himself, taking on roles in law enforcement in like Street Kings, Speed and Point Break. Across every role he has played, these films hit a nerve with Reeves during his first years as an actor.
Keanu Reeves’ four favourite films:
- Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
- Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977)
- The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, 1972)
- Serpico (Sidney Lumet, 1973)
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