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Wednesday, October 8, 2014

MAN OF TAI CHI (2013)

Keanu Reeves’ debut as director-star hyphenate is dead-on-arrival. A Martial Arts actioner where even the fighting hero looks bored. But imagine the sequels! MAN OF PILATES! MAN OF ISOMETRICS! MAN OF FREE WEIGHT TRAINING!

SCREWY THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Given the percentage of screen time given to Martial Arts sequences, plus separate credit for action director, Reeves vanity title should be co-director. But give him full credit for digging up his Fight Club extras straight out of Stanley Kubrick’s infamous orgy scene in EYES WIDE SHUT/'99.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Commercially, Reeves career has been all but dormant for over a decade, long enough to have skipped an entire film-going generation. For a reminder of his surprising range & immense charm, check him out in SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE/’03 where he’s so effective he throws the film’s romantic ending entirely out of whack.

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