Keanu Reeves has been going through a career resurgence recently thanks to the success of the John Wick series, the revival of Bill And Ted, and the upcoming Matrix reboot. And now, an iconic but often forgotten movie has arrived on HBO Max, letting more people enjoy this off-kilter cult classic.
Point Break is a 1991 action crime film starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, and Lori Petty. Kathryn Bigelow, the talent behind both The Hurt Locker, directed the film. Reeves plays the role of Johnny Utah, a former quarterback and rookie FBI agent. He joins forces with experienced agent Angelo Pappas to investigate a series of high-profile robberies. These robberies are performed by the Ex-Presidents gang, so-called because they always wear rubber masks that resemble former American presidents. However, that isn’t the only unusual thing about this gang, as rather than breaking into vaults, they just steal money from the tellers’ position, allowing them to complete a robbery within ninety seconds.
Pappas believes the criminals are surfers, so he sends Johnny Utah in undercover to infiltrate the gang, hoping to bring them to justice. However, this plan leads to Utah getting in over his head, leading to chaos and confusion as the Ex-Presidents and the FBI play a tense game of cat and mouse.
The film did well when it hit theaters, making $83.5 million worldwide. Making it one of the highest-grossing action films directed by a woman. The film got decent reviews when it was released, and today it has a respectable 69% critic score and a 79% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Many reviewers said that the film was utterly absurd and often made little to no sense but that it was enjoyable because of this weirdness.
Many also commended the surfing scenes found throughout the movie. Saying that they were visceral and exciting in a way that really draws the viewer in. Something that carried through to the movie’s action scenes. Many critics drew attention to Keanu Reeves, saying that his acting had a lot of range, and despite the inherent strangeness of his character, he was able to pull them off well. In fact, many argue that Point Break is the film that made Keanu a Hollywood A-Lister, transforming him from a B-Movie and arthouse actor into a viable leading man.
Point Break has become a cult classic, as while you can criticize parts of the film, there is nothing else quite like it. Rarely do the words surfing and crime thriller come together, making Point Break stand out amongst the crowd. So long-time Keanu fans or those who just want an excellent movie should check out Point Break while it is on HBO Max.