Apr 19, 2006

Bad movies I love part 5.

Keanu Reeves has had a blessed career. Starting off with the role that was meant for him in 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure', followed by a lackluster sequel, he graced the screen with good looks, charm, and a boyishly naive nature. Speaking in monosyllabic dialogue he took on roles that seemed perfect for him (Parenthood, My Own Private Idaho, Speed) and appeared in movies that made you believe he gave great oral to the casting director (Much Ado About Nothing, Bram Stoker's Dracula).

Recently audiences flocked to the highly overrated Matrix trilogy enjoying the special effects and thought provoking concept while overlooking the ridiculously bad dialogue and acting. That trilogy made Keanu a huge star and we'll be seeing more of him in the future. Few fans though remember the movie that cemented the belief that Keanu was nothing more than a pretty face.

'Point Break' is a horrible movie by all standards, but yet when I'm flicking through channels with nothing to do and come across it I will watch it to the end. 'Point Break' has the dubious honor of having some of the worst actors of it's time such as Patrick Swayze and Lori Petty. Even Anthony Kiedis has a hard time delivering such banal lines and he plays a drugged out beach bum. The direction seems almost nonexistent and the plot is just damn silly.

'Point Break' starts off with a rookie FBI agent (Reeves) partnering with the crazy, but always entertaining, Gary Busey. After a series of bank robberies Busey believes the criminals are in fact surfers. Since Reeves already has the accent it only seems logical to send him undercover to infiltrate the band of heavily armed wave riders. Reeves soon befriends Patrick Swayze, a local surfing legend who takes Reeves on a wild ride showing him the spiritual side of hitting each wake all the while hiding his identity as gang leader in the bank robbing spree.

This is where it gets confusing. Reeve's character having never surfed before enters the film talking like a surfer whereas Swayze, who's the guru of the ocean, talks the same as he did in 'Roadhouse'. How the hell did this happen?

Oh and Reeves falls in love with Petty. Why I'm not sure. I guess there had to be a love interest somewhere.

I remember watching the film for the first time with my high school sweetheart. She absolutely loved it while I sat there wondering if it was a comedy or an action drama. I was hard pressed to think that some of the scenes weren't deliberately funny. She educated me on where I shouldn't have laughed, which was almost the entire film.

And that's why I enjoy 'Point Break'. It's just damn funny; however unintentional. The action is fun. The surfing scenes are well done. The biggest attraction I have for this horrendous film is the breath taking skydiving sequence. It was one of the reasons I finally chose to jump out of an airplane.

Point Brokeback:



"It's basic dog psychology, bro. If you scare them, get them pissing down their leg, they submit... you control them. If you project weakness, you draw aggression... that's how people get hurt. Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true. You project strength to avoid conflict." - Bodhi, Patrick Swayze.

2 comments:

Mattbear said...

Wow, one we agree on. I know it's bad, it's full of bad actors, yet I am inexplicably drawn to it. It had some damn fine action scenes.

And Patrick Swayze's character's name means "Enlightenment". You can't get much more ironic.

Anonymous said...

dude, this film rocks, i saw no problem with the acting, and i enjoyed the plot and the action scenes very much