Editing Keanu Reeves (section)

===1995–1998: Career fluctuations===
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| quote = I do love it [Shakespeare]. It's like this kind of code that once you start to inhabit it with breath and sound and feeling and thought, it is the most powerful and consuming and freeing at the same time. Just, literally, elemental in sound, consonants and vowels. What I found out in doing it ''[Hamlet]'' was that it brought up for me all the anger that was inside me for my mother. I mean, it surprised me, just what was there, and I hadn't seen that before.
| source = —Reeves on his ''Hamlet'' performance<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=The Quiet Man: The Riddle of Keanu Reeves|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-quiet-man-the-riddle-of-keanu-reeves-97442/|last=Heath|first=Chris|date=August 31, 2000|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429053555/https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/the-quiet-man-the-riddle-of-keanu-reeves-97442/|archive-date=April 29, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>
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Reeves's next leading role came in the 1995 [[cyberpunk]] action thriller ''[[Johnny Mnemonic (film)|Johnny Mnemonic]],'' directed by artist [[Robert Longo]] and based on the 1981 story of the [[Johnny Mnemonic|same name]] by [[William Gibson]]. Set in 2021, it is about a man who has a [[cybernetic]] [[brain implant]] and must deliver a data package before he dies or is killed by the [[yakuza]]. The film received mainly negative reviews and critics felt Reeves was "woefully [[Casting (performing arts)|miscast]]".<ref>{{Citation|title=Johnny Mnemonic (1995)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/johnny_mnemonic|work=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407071120/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/johnny_mnemonic/|language=en|access-date=April 18, 2020|archive-date=April 7, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Roger Ebert opined that the film is one of the "great goofy gestures of recent cinema, a movie that doesn't deserve one nanosecond of serious analysis but has a kind of idiotic grandeur that makes you almost forgive it."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Ebert |first1=Roger |title=Johnny Mnemonic |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/johnny-mnemonic-1995 |access-date=June 12, 2022 |publisher=Chicago Sun-Times |date=May 26, 1995 |archive-date=May 10, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510121201/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/johnny-mnemonic-1995 |url-status=live }}</ref> As part of the film studio's marketing efforts, a [[CD-ROM]] video game was also released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/1995/06/02/johnny-mnemonic/|title=Johnny Mnemonic|website=EW.com|language=EN|access-date=April 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814181953/https://ew.com/article/1995/06/02/johnny-mnemonic/|archive-date=August 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

He next appeared in the romantic drama ''[[A Walk in the Clouds]]'' (1995), which also garnered mixed-to-negative reviews.<ref>{{Citation|title=A Walk in the Clouds (1995)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/walk_in_the_clouds|work=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523210321/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/walk_in_the_clouds/|language=en|access-date=April 18, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Reeves plays a young soldier returning home from [[World War&nbsp;II]], trying to settle down with a woman he married impulsively just before he enlisted. Film critic [[Mick LaSalle]] opined that "''A Walk in the Clouds'' is for the most part a beautiful, well-acted and emotionally rich picture", whereas Hal Hinson from ''The Washington Post'' said, "The film has the syrupy, [[Kodak]] magic-moment look of a [[Bo Derek]] movie, and pretty much the same level of substance".<ref>{{Cite web|last=LaSalle|first=Mick|author-link=Mick LaSalle|date=August 11, 1995|title=Movie Review / Reeves Takes 'Walk' And Runs With It|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/MOVIE-REVIEW-Reeves-Takes-Walk-And-Runs-With-3026860.php|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200412204506/https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/MOVIE-REVIEW-Reeves-Takes-Walk-And-Runs-With-3026860.php|archive-date=April 12, 2020|access-date=April 12, 2020|website=SFGate}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hinson |first=Hal |date=August 11, 1995 |title=A Walk in the Clouds |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/awalkinthecloudspg13hinson_c027c0.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011021601/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/awalkinthecloudspg13hinson_c027c0.htm |archive-date=October 11, 2017 |access-date=April 12, 2020 |website=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref>

Besides film work, Reeves retreated briefly to the theatre playing [[Prince Hamlet]] in a 1995 [[Manitoba Theatre Centre]] production of ''[[Hamlet]]'' in [[Winnipeg]], Manitoba.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mtc.mb.ca/news.aspx?id=1356 |title=Manitoba Theatre Centre: News |publisher=Mtc.mb.ca |access-date=May 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213120333/http://www.mtc.mb.ca/news.aspx?id=1356 |archive-date=February 13, 2010 }}</ref> ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' critic [[Roger Lewis (biographer)|Roger Lewis]] believed his performance, writing he "quite embodied the innocence, the splendid fury, the animal grace of the leaps and bounds, the emotional violence, that form the Prince of Denmark&nbsp;... He is one of the top three Hamlets I have seen, for a simple reason: he ''is'' Hamlet".<ref>''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' Volume 58, 1995.</ref>

Reeves was soon drawn to science fiction roles, appearing in ''[[Chain Reaction (1996 film)|Chain Reaction]]'' (1996) with co-stars [[Morgan Freeman]], [[Rachel Weisz]], [[Fred Ward]], [[Kevin Dunn]] and [[Brian Cox (actor)|Brian Cox]]. He plays a researcher of a [[Sustainable energy|green energy]] project, who has to go on the run when he is [[Frameup|framed]] for murder. ''Chain Reaction'' was not a critical success and gained mostly a negative reaction; review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rating of 16% and described it as "a man-on-the-run thriller that mostly sticks to generic formula".<ref>{{Citation|title=Chain Reaction (1996)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1072457_chain_reaction|work=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106151324/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1072457_chain_reaction|language=en|access-date=April 12, 2020|archive-date=November 6, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Reeves's film choices after ''Chain Reaction'' were also critical disappointments. He starred in the independent crime comedy ''[[Feeling Minnesota]]'' (1996), with [[Vincent D'Onofrio]] and [[Cameron Diaz]], which was described as "shoddily assembled, and fundamentally miscast" by Rotten Tomatoes.<ref>{{Citation|title=Feeling Minnesota (1996)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/feeling_minnesota|work=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920121920/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/feeling_minnesota|language=en|access-date=April 13, 2020|archive-date=September 20, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In that year, he turned down an offer to star in ''[[Speed 2: Cruise Control]]'', despite being offered a salary of $12&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Portman|first=Jamie|title=Keanu not sequel to the task|date=September 13, 1996|work=[[Montreal Gazette]]|page=C3}}</ref> According to Reeves, this decision caused [[20th Century Fox]] to sever ties with him for a decade.<ref name="gq cover">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.gq.com/story/the-legend-of-keanu-reeves | title = The Legend of Keanu Reeves | first = Alex | last = Pappademos | date = April 15, 2019 | access-date = April 15, 2019 | magazine = [[GQ (magazine)|GQ]] | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190415131631/https://www.gq.com/story/the-legend-of-keanu-reeves | archive-date = April 15, 2019 | url-status = live }}</ref>

Instead, Reeves toured with his band Dogstar, and appeared in the drama ''[[The Last Time I Committed Suicide]]'' (1997), based on a 1950 letter written by [[Neal Cassady]] to [[Jack Kerouac]]. Reeves's performance gained mixed reviews; Paul Tatara of [[CNN]] called him "void of talent&nbsp;[...] here he is again, reciting his lines as if they're non-related words strung together as a memory exercise",<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tatara|first=Paul|date=July 10, 1997|title=CNN – Letter to Kerouac provides thin basis for 'Suicide' – July 10, 1997|url=http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9707/10/review.last.suicide/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190917103606/http://edition.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/9707/10/review.last.suicide/index.html|archive-date=September 17, 2019|access-date=April 18, 2020|website=CNN}}</ref> whereas ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine thought "Reeves gives the nearest thing to a performance in his career as the enthusiastic feckless drunk".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Adam|date=January 1, 2000|title=The Last Time I Committed Suicide|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/last-time-committed-suicide-review/|access-date=October 19, 2020|website=Empire|language=en|archive-date=March 16, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316073030/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/last-time-committed-suicide-review/|url-status=live}}</ref> He starred in the 1997 [[supernatural]] horror ''[[The Devil's Advocate (1997 film)|The Devil's Advocate]]'' alongside [[Al Pacino]] and [[Charlize Theron]]; Reeves agreed to a pay cut of several million dollars so that the [[film studio]] could afford to hire Pacino.<ref name="meta" /> Based on [[Andrew Neiderman]]'s novel of the same name, the feature is about a successful young lawyer invited to New York City to work for a major firm, who discovers the owner of the firm is a [[Devil in Christianity|devil]]. ''The Devil's Advocate'' attracted positive reviews from critics.<ref>{{Citation|title=The Devil's Advocate (1997)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_advocate|work=Rotten Tomatoes|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190523150712/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/devils_advocate/|language=en|access-date=April 13, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Film critic [[James Berardinelli]] called the film "highly enjoyable" and wrote, "There are times when Reeves lacks the subtlety that would have made this a more multi-layered portrayal, but it's nevertheless a solid job".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://preview.reelviews.net/movies/d/devils_advocate.html|title=Review: The Devil's Advocate|last=Berardinelli|first=James|author-link=James Berardinelli|date=1997|website=preview.reelviews.net|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191219072940/http://preview.reelviews.net/movies/d/devils_advocate.html|archive-date=December 19, 2019|access-date=April 13, 2020}}</ref>