The Surprising Movie Keanu Reeves Calls His Worst Film

Keanu Reeves is arguably one of the most widely beloved actors on the planet. Even a cursory glance at the actor's IMDb page will tell you why. His resumé boasts numerous big-screen classics, including "The Matrix" trilogy, the "Bill & Ted" trilogy, "Point Break," "Speed," and the even "Toy Story 4." With more than 30 years spent making movies, it's safe to say there's a version of Reeves every viewer can enjoy. Since 2014, he has become known for his work on the super stylish, hyper-violent "John Wick" films. Given the wild success of that franchise, his career is flourishing — which is saying a lot for the man who fronted iconic actioner "The Matrix."

Like most actors who've been in the Hollywood game for decades, Reeves' career has seen some serious ups and downs. Even though he has racked up numerous cinematic classics, there have indeed been just as many stinkers. However, few of the movies Reeves has starred in have flopped as hard as a little-seen thriller he toplined in 2000. Not surprisingly, the film in question also remains one of his least favorite offerings from his own oeuvre.

The movie Keanu Reeves dislikes the most is the serial killer drama "The Watcher," where he plays a cooler-than-cool psychopath who kills young women and taunts the cops. Released in September 2000, the film co-stars James Spader as one of the cops tracking him and Marisa Tomei as his current target. Despite this very solid cast, "The Watcher" was ripped to absolute shreds by critics upon release (via Rotten Tomatoes), with Common Sense Media dinging it for a "tired plot and disastrous casting," and critic Nick Schager writing in his review the film was "one of the lamest serial killer thrillers in the post-'Silence of the Lambs' era." The movie was a financial flop, too, earning just $47 million worldwide (via Box Office Mojo).

These stats alone would make the actor's lack of love for "The Watcher" understandable. But, as covered by The Guardian, Reeves told the Calgary Sun in 2001 he had lots of reasons to loathe the film, primarily that he was duped into starring in it by his friend, director Joe Charbanic. As the story goes, he agreed to a small role in the film to help Charbanic get it financed, only to find the part growing exponentially as the filming start date neared. Even worse, Reeves claimed Charbanic forged his name on a legally binding document to ensure he couldn't back out of the project. On top of this, he later found out Spader earned more money than him. Given these circumstances, one can hardly blame Reeves for his less-than-committed performance in a film he felt he was forced to make.