Keanu Reeves. Absolutny fenomen

by Alex Pappademas

Obok tego aktora nie da się przejść obojętnie. Jest jedną z najbardziej tajemniczych i jednocześnie najbardziej lubianych postaci Hollywood. Książka Alexa Pappademasa to podróż przez wszystkie filmowe wcielenia Keanu Reevesa i próba zrozumienia fenomenu tej niezaprzeczalnej ikony popkultury.

KEANU REEVES – JAK ON TO ROBI?

Bez wątpienia można stwierdzić, że słyszał o nim każdy. A zdecydowana większość kinomanów (i nie tylko!) darzy go ogromną sympatią, mimo że Keanu Reeves nie należy do grona sław epatujących swoim życiem osobistym. I właśnie dlatego, że nie wiemy o nim zbyt wiele, Alex Pappademas pokusił się o napisanie książki – zabawnej, błyskotliwej i nieoczywistej – która pozwoli choć trochę lepiej zrozumieć, na czym polega niezwykłość Keanu Reevesa. Aktora, który nie wpasowuje się w żaden schemat rządzący światem celebrytów. Człowieka, który mimo swojego zawodu pozostaje sobą. Ile prawdziwego Keanu jest w każdej z jego ról? Co sprawia, że to tak intrygująca i niepowtarzalna postać?

Keanu Reeves. Absolutny fenomen nie jest typową biografią – tak samo jak typowy nie jest jej bohater.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Pop Culture, Audiobook, Film, History, Biography Memoir

352 pages, Paperback

Published October 26, 2022

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one REALLY gets into the weeds. Alex Pappademas goes into great detail as he picks through all of Keanu's movies and creative endeavors. The basic premise being that you don't need to interview Keanu to find out who he is. Just look at his work as it has evolved through the decades. I am not a fanatic over Keanu, but I have enjoyed many of his movies. My favorite is still Lake House. And I do want to watch Speed again. The comprehensive coverage of all things Keanu in this book helped me to discover a series I had no idea existed. He narrates an episode of A World of Calm entitled "Living Among Trees" about a Latvian man who crafts a canoe from a tree. How weird is it that I was actually in Latvian when I was reading this book? And one final note: in my mind this book is incomplete. Why? There is not one mention of Toy Story 4 and the super cool Duke Caboom. Love that guy!

Thank you to Abrams Image and Edelweiss+ for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

[Valleri · Rating 2 out of 5]

My thanks to Abrams Publishing, as well as to NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant: The Movies and Meaning of an Inscrutable Icon.

It pains me to write this but Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant wasn't what I expected. I guess I should have been prepared for that, considering what a private person Keanu Reeves is. It felt to me like the book was more about the author's take regarding each role the actor played, and what he felt that told about Keanu, rather than a book actually about Keanu Reeves. I ultimately found myself wondering if the author liked ANY of Keanu's movies - or even Keanu, himself. The author's comments started feeling rather snarky. (Maybe this is just the author's style of writing?)

It appears that Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant may be a big hit for most readers and that I'm an outlier with my review, so please take it with a grain of salt!

[Sierra · Rating 3 out of 5]

i knew keanu from that logic song so it was interesting reading a book about who this mystery man actually is

[Bon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley for a review copy. Wow, this was not what I expected - but in hindsight I should have expected quirky prose and wise commentary from a Keanu biography!

I'll give this four full stars. It opened my eyes to a ton of Keanu's filmography that I need to check out, and it was hilarious and so cringey at points that I just had to keep going and see where the author was going. From self-deprecating jokes about both the author and Keanu, to some cringey race discussion, to a thorough discussion of the Sad Keanu meme, I was never bored or ambivalent about continuing.

The style of this biography was unique to me. When I've read other star biographies, their life came first and mentions of films are kind of inserted where convenient or relevant. But in this we are told of Keanu's life through the movies, a near-complete filmography as far as I can tell, where instead Keanu's coincidental life events are tied in. The author clearly has done film studies and is an accomplished evaluator of the media. What was said actually makes sense, whereas usually the hoity-toity tone of film critics usually leaves me going "Yeahhh I didn't watch the same movie I guess". I like that Keanu was simply referred to as KEANU as each film was explored; he is his roles, they are him. It was very Keanu, idiosyncratic and charming.

I learned a lot and came away with a full list of movies to watch, and the book was incredibly easygoing in tone and very readable. The one gripe I had was the sometimes baffling use of long, one-sentence paragraphs; the writing style was very quirky and I was surprised that passed editing, but it somehow worked, flowed. Solid four stars from me!

[Joe Supan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book, one of the best pieces of criticism I've ever read. It had a ton of smart things to say about the weird position actors are in trying to be artists and celebrities at the same time, the meaning of work, even suffering. I was a little nervous it would be a gimmicky "[stoner movie] explains the universe" kind of book, but Pappademas takes it seriously without losing his humor. It reminded me of Pauline Kael's Cary Grant essay in that it captured exactly what makes Keanu a star.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking for a great book about Keanu? Then this is the one for you! This book spans his career and up to current and if you are a fan, then you should definitely read this book!

[Mila · Rating 2 out of 5]

Це точно не біографія, скоріше огляд творчої кар'єри. Переказ фільмів, філософія, яка криється в них, особливості сюжету та поза екранні подробиці.

Зовсім трохи інформації про батьків і ніякої про особисте життя. Тільки загальновідомі факти, інтерв'ю та слухи.

Дуже дивно читати в книзі про меми. Я такого не чекала і не зустрічала взагалі.

[Mark Colomb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good hang, in the spirit of Greil Marcus.

[Tom Gase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book and it's probably a 3.5 star rating if anything. Nothing over the top and mind-blowing but a nice glimpse at Keanu's career in acting and his life off the screen. He's basically one of the nicest people on the planet, which is amazing since his life has been haunted with tragedy. His wife and unborn child were killed, his best friend River Phoenix was killed. Yet he still lives his life and treats people with kindness. His film career has been on and off. I am not going to stand here and say his acting career has been terrible because he's been the right person for movies such as the Matrix series (1 is amazing, 2 is great action flick and 3 and 4 are horrendous), Point Break, Speed, Private Idaho, Bill and Ted (1 is great, 2 is eh, 3 is ehh), Devil's Advocate, Hardball, The Replacements, Parenthood, and now the John Wick series (only seen the first one and it's...eh). But he's also done a shitload of terrible movies as evidenced by this book. The last third of this book talks about roles in films I've never even heard of really. But the first 2/3 takes a good deep dive into his roles and some he almost got (He almost played Val Kilmer's part in Heat). A fun read, kind of what I needed at this time. Watched Hardball and the Matrix while reading this book and both still hold up. (Although I do realize Hardball is just the Mighty Ducks but with baseball).

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some people got really into baking during the pandemic lockdown, others started an indoor garden, Alex Pappademas? He rewatched every movie starring one Keanu Charles Reeves. This book is the outcome of those hours watching and researching all things Keanu
I am what you would call a fair weather fan of Keanu Reeves. I've seen his blockbusters (Bill and Ted, Matrix, John Wick), shared a few "sad Keanu" memes, but I'm no means and expert or have seen everything from his oeuvre. (In fact, I don't think I watched the last 2 Matrix movies). Because of that, I learned a lot while reading this book. And added some films to my watch list. But, I can't give it a full 5 stars. It more-or-less followed a chronological order of Keanu's filmography, but then would also get scattered, trying to make connections to early or later films. It also started to drag about halfway through. The author's writing still is loose and funny kept me engaged enough to keep going. Well, that, and I wanted to get to the Always Be My Maybe cameo!
Overall, I'd recommend this to fans of the 90s, Keanu, movies, and pop culture.
While I received an ARC of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant from NetGalley for free, this had no bearing on my rating and review. Thank you to NetGalley and Abrams!

[Jason West · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m torn on this book. It’s so well-researched & well written, but this book ultimately feels as though the author is projecting his own speculation as to who Keanu Reeves is off-screen based on who he has portrayed on screen over the last 40 years.

And maybe that’s the point of what makes the private actor who he is…a blank canvas for everyone to interpret who he truly is at the core of his personhood. Considering Reeves is so private, I’m not sure what I expected going into this.

The book still contains some really valuable nuggets of cinematic history that I couldn’t help but enjoy it. But once I turned the last page, I still felt no less knowledgeable about this enigmatic & oddly magnetic artist.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

**Keanu Reeves Most Triumphant is a strange read in that the author seems to want to tell the story of the actor through his movies. There’s a lot of film dissection and supposition about his costars and at the time culture, but basically at the end readers are left wondering why the author undertook the project. I voluntarily reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley.

[Cris · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was not what I expected. It details the movies he has been involved in and I take it as the author’s opinions of what he thinks Keanu is like. Considering what a private person he is, I don’t think many people really know, and that’s why so many like him.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review.

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you want to learn about Keanu Reeves and his movies, try another book. This author came across as a lukewarm-Reeves fan critic. Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Corrie Russell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn’t even finish this one. Bleh.

[Tracy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very detailed analysis of films but the conclusion was a bit a disappointing. I was hoping for some revelation or bit of insight after such an exhaustive review of his movies, but then it just sort of ended and I was neither satisfied nor was my interest piqued to find out more . It felt like a blank, flat ending much like Mr. Reeves acting style. The best part was the reader of this audio book. Had I not been listening I probably would not have finished it.

[Creighton Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

worth the read if you are a fellow scholar of keanu

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one won't be for everyone, but as a movie buff, and Keanu fan, I found it amazing! Clever, funny, and insightful!

[Lea Columbus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to thank Abrams Books team and Net Galley for the chance to read an ARC of this book for a fair and honest review. I like the films of Keanu Reeves and was interested in this book. It was a comprehensive book, addressing his filmography in detail. At times, however, it seemed that the focus was scattered. Sometimes it was a description of Keanu Reeves films and the impact they had on his career . Sometimes , it was a more spiritual outlook, on his feelings and reasons for playing the roles. Sometimes, it was to make political statements , which , I have not seen ascribed to Keanu Reeves, and I can only assume were the feelings of the author.. To me, it was a bit disjointed. It was well researched, however, to me it was lacking in cohesiveness.

[Janilyn Kocher · Rating 2 out of 5]

A semi-interesting read about Keanu Reeves. The author features the films Reeves had been in and interspersed it with some of his history. I found the writing to be quite dry and perfunctory. It was more like the author was cashing in on Reeves’ name.
Thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for the advance read.

[Cherokee - Books With A Chance · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I was really hoping for a more in-depth look at Keanu Reeves.. I'm not sure if this book delivered.
This book talks about Keanu Reeves; his life, personality, etc. as if every character he's ever portrayed is a part of him. Which, I guess in a way is correct, and seeing as how Keanu Reeves is such a private person this is probably the best we could hope for.
That being said, the book was dull and difficult to read, I was forcing myself to pick it back up.

[Jodi Gallegos · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a long-time fan of Keanu Reeves I wanted to like this book so much! I’m always interested in learning a little bit more about the behind the scenes reality of my favorite movies and actors. Unfortunately Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant just didn’t deliver for me.
The author seems to have made a valiant attempt to give some deeper meaning to the film and characters Keanu Reeves has helped bring to life, but it varies between long recaps of the films intertwined with chaotic breaks to mention what was happening in society and with costars at the same time. The effect doesn’t tie it all together, but rather just feels disjointed and unfocused. I don’t feel I walked away from this book with any greater understanding of Keanu Reeves nor did I feel any “profound lessons” were revealed.
I appreciate the chance to read and review this book and wish I could have given it a higher review, but I was left unsatisfied.

*I received a copy of Keanu Reeves: Most Triumphant from Netgalley and Abrams Image in exchange for an honest review*

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty sentences. Astute observations about the business. And the subject matter could not be more fascinating. Loved it

[Calyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a sordid celebrity biography, this being about Keanu Reeves after all; what kind of torrid reveals could even be uncovered at this point in time? Especially if the scandals and the secrets are most likely just not there, since countless detractors have tried and failed to find any that would stick.

He's too clean, humble, and unknown to the public in any true capacity due to Reeves' tendency to abandon any attempt to explain himself in interviews, always maintaining a wall of privacy completely alien in our celebrity-saturated culture of oversharing, so keeping that in mind, this is a book that tries to take on the task of understanding the man Keanu Reeves through the lens of Keanu Reeves the actor and the roles he has chosen and how they've been received. So this is a bit of a film nerd's book, but put with the specific context of tracing Reeves' impact on popular culture and the ways that society's embrace of his work has affected him.

So much of that premise is dependent on the fact that Keanu Reeves is just like a blank slate that people and culture at large project our hopes and desires on, and this book is made possible by how amorphous and zeitgeist-y Reeves is. Without that eternal mystery and endless ability to analyze him, yet probably not ever get closer to the truth of who he truly is and what goes through his mind, Most Triumphant couldn't exist.

The commendable amounts of research into all aspects of Reeves' films and the subtext of each and the circumstances around many of his most popular films are delivered with zinging humor and a disregard for the contempt of popcorn-ready action movies and aimless indie flicks critics and film afficionados usually reserve; there's never any judgement for Reeves' acting technique, but actually reverence and a philosophical delineation of how he acted in each role. This is a very cool, upbeat film critic's take on Keanu's career so far, and why he's become a cinema staple and a national treasure to both Canada and America.

Thanks to Abrams Image and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Mandy Hazen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Keanu is a badass and this book was awesome. First I had no idea how many movies this man as been in and it sent me down a rabbit hole of watching movies over again. such a legend - you get a look into the backstory, what brought him to where he is now, and what keeps him where he is. I loved it. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Desiree Nelson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won this book on goodreads. It was not what I thought it would be. It was one person's take on both Keanu's movies and his life. Seemed really out there to me and his interpretation of some of the movies was definitely not what I saw when watching them. If there is movie you didn't see well he goes Into a lot of detail about the movie so you will know about it and not need to watch it. Very disappointed and had to force myself to finish it

[Leigh Stephanz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not what I expected. It was just the author telling you his interpretations of Keanu’s film roles. And some of them seem like a wild leap to me. Like he’s just playing himself in every role he’s ever played… so no acting at all. I didn’t bother finishing it since I disagree entirely with the main premise.

[John Schorg · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book of this type has been inevitable for some time. Some of it had value, but mostly I felt irritated by an author bound and determined to show how smart he is. There is much philosophizing here, and none of it helps you understand the unique appeal of Keanu Reeves.

[Rafal Jasinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Oto chwila duchowego połączenia, przekazania pochodni pomiędzy dwoma gwiazdorami, których całkiem sporo łączy. W 'Akcie zemsty', w tej jedynej wspólnej scenie, nie zamieniają ze sobą ani słowa. Fabuła wiąże ich przemocą, co wydaje się całkiem na miejscu. Podobnie jak Keanu, także i Bronsona krytycy nazywali często „drewnianym”. W przypadku obu aktorów wiele ich najlepszych ról to te, w których prawie w ogóle się nie odzywają. Zarówno Keanu, jak i Bronson zyskali ponowną sławę po pięćdziesiątce, grając gości, którzy zabijają mnóstwo osób w ramach zemsty za osobistą tragedię, której już żadna dodatkowa śmierć i tak nie cofnie."

Niezwykle wciągająca i rozbudowana analiza kariery twórczej Reevesa, której autor wnika w bardzo osobiste sfery aktora, głównie przez pryzmat wybieranych przez niego ról i form wkładu (nie tylko aktorskiego) w popkulturę oraz stara się dać odpowiedź na pytanie: dlaczego jest tak uwielbiany przez fanów na całym świecie? Czytelnik dowie się wiele o pasjach Keanu, jego zaangażowaniu w różne filmowe i niefilmowe projekty oraz o wpływie, jaki wywarł na wiele osób swoistą prostotą i pokorą - funkcjonując zarówno, jako gwiazda filmowa, celebryta i, w wielu przypadkach, wzbudzająca mega-pozytywne reakcje, postać memiczna.

To forma quasi-biografii, które generalnie bardzo lubię. Mocno skoncentrowana na, pełnej interesujących spostrzeżeń, analizie twórczości i dorobku filmowego oraz teatralnego. Choć mam wrażenie, że w pewnych aspektach umniejsza faktyczną wartość książki, jako dzieła biograficznego, przesadne dopasowywanie przez Aleksa Pappademasa bohaterów, w jakich wciela się Reeves do rzeczywistego wizerunku aktora i usilne szukanie analogii pomiędzy perypetiami odgrywanych postaci i - często dramatycznymi - przypadkami z życia Keanu, co prowadzi, w moim odczuciu, do dywagacji, które są ciekawe, ale niebezpiecznie zbliżają się do przestrzeni nadinterpretacji.

W rezultacie, książka ta traci potencjał jako biografia i obiektywna analiza kariery Keanu Reevesa i staje się bardziej osobistym wywodem autora - zakochanego w aktorze i biorącego stronę rzeszy podobnych mu fanów - niż rzetelnym dziełem biograficznym. Dla czytelników, którzy szukają obiektywnej i wyważonej analizy twórczości Reevesa, publikacja może być rozczarowująca. Dla czytelników lubujących się w nieoczywistej krytyce i analizie dzieł filmowych - rzecz nie do przeoczenia.

[El_kiablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keanu is a perfect subject for a book like this because he's a fascinating example of how the more things change the more they stay the same. Which is to say that both his movies and his public persona have been all over the place over the years - but also there's a lot of consistent through lines throughout his work that are worth thinking about.

Keanu's transition from "goofy stoner manchild" to "elder statesman with gravitas" was so gradual that I never really put it together that his image circa the Bill and Ted movies is basically the exact opposite of his image now that he's John Wick...

But regardless of whether he's playing a puppy dog or a pit bull he's still a man whose obsessed with exploring the concept of a fractured identity - whether that's Theodore Logan meeting a mechanical version of himself from the future or Neo meeting the architect and coming to realize that he's just one of an endless series of saviors or John Wick constantly struggling to be a new man even as everything around him pushes him to revert back to being his old self. Keanu has played lawyers and assassins and the Buddha and even a damned man who is forced to fight for God - but there's a common thread that runs through most of his roles: namely that there is a real disconnect between who those people think they should be and who those people actually are. There's something really fascinating to me about the way Keanu's image has shifted over time - even as he's still exploring some of the same themes.

I'm sure the average Keanu fan isn't particularly interested to unpack his career in this way - at this point Keanu is best known for being a top notch action star and I don't think that the average action movie fan wants to spend a lot of time interrogating what all of those violent films really mean. But then again Keanu has always been a bit of an odd action star because your Sylvester Stallones and Jean Claude Van Dammes of the world don't make movies that try to mix big ideas in with their explosions; there's a real difference between Rambo / Bloodsport and The Matrix, in that The Matrix is about exploring a big concept as much as it is about exploring bullet time.

So yeah: this book might not be for everyone but it certainly was for me. I found this to be a really interesting analysis of an unconventional person who has had a very unlikely career...