Viewed in
2012
Formats
HDTV
Premise
Keanu Reeves stars as an EFF BEE EYE AGENT! who goes undercover as a surfer to take down bank robbers, led by Patrick Swayze.
Loved
Keanu, unintentional comedy.
Liked
Cinematography.
Thoughts
I you enjoy Keanu acting, you've probably already seen this.
Words are incapable of giving Keanu's performance justice. He magically morphed from rookie cop to sensitive surfer to adrenaline junkie living on the edge. When a character exclaimed to Keanu "you've changed!" I died. It was amusing to see a sane-ish Gary Busey as Keanu's gruff partner, and young Anthony Kiedis as a thug. But really, the casting of the late, great Patrick Swayze was (unintentionally) inspired. Some actors simply can't pull off evil. In this case, he tried too hard with his "bad guy" goatee and crazy eyes, and it still failed.
Even though it was released in 1991, it really had its roots in cheesy 1980's action flicks. I mean, I don't even know where to begin. The ridiculous premise, the illogical plot, the blatant predictability, the horrible portrayal of surfers, the "I don't know how you can say it with a straight face" dialog, all mashed together into a glob of awesome badness.
Oddly, one thing was actually legitimately good, which was the cinematography. There was plenty of outdoors-y eye candy, with poetic shots of surfing in slow-motion, as well as gorgeous aerial shots of sky-diving. Another nice flashy moment was long-take steadicam shots of foot-chases through buildings and houses.
After finally watching this disaster-piece, I'm convinced that director Kathryn Bigelow masterminded a plot to convince the world to let her direct Point Break as practice for her to master the last hour of Zero Dark Thirty two decades later.
