Keanu Reeves is one of the world's most beloved action movie stars, so it always comes as a bit of a shock when people see his menacing performance as Donnie Barksdale in Sam Raimi's The Gift. Released in 2000, this supernatural thriller has a stacked cast featuring many up-and-coming actors, including Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, and Hillary Swank, but it's Reeves who stands out as the biggest surprise in the film.
Coming hot off the heels of his starring role in The Matrix, Reeves' performance as the abusive husband to Swank's character, Valerie, is equally terrifying and despicable. He's such a terrible person here that it makes it all the more fun to watch Reeves play against type. While The Gift is a super underrated movie on just about every front, Keanu Reeves' performance in particular as Barksdale deserves more praise in his filmography than it's given.
What Is 'The Gift' About?
The Gift is a supernatural thriller directed by Sam Raimi and released in 2000. The film takes place in a small Georgia town and follows Annie Wilson (Cate Blanchett), a fortune-teller with ESP who gets roped in with the local police to help solve a murder case. It's a fantastic example of the kind of small thrillers that they don't make much anymore. Its simple supernatural elements are never made overcomplicated with goofy scenes of CGI monsters or interactions with forces beyond our world like other Raimi films.
Annie's psychic abilities are simply a means for helping see the unseen — be it the location of a body or the secret actions of a particular character. The film has a massive cast of performers who have gone on to become big players today, faces like the previously mentioned Cate Blanchett and Katie Holmes, but also JK Simmons and Giovanni Ribisi. Most surprisingly, it is Keanu Reeves who brings a lot of this film's thrills.
Before 'The Gift,' Keanu Reeves Was the Cool Guy
Before The Gift, Keanu Reeves had established himself as an action, drama, and comedy star in the 80s and 90s. The guy had the chops to do it all. With the Bill and Ted movies, Speed, My Own Private Idaho, and The Matrix to his name, Reeves was firmly seen as one of the most likable faces in the business, a perception that continues to this day. He has continued his badass action stardom with the John Wick series of movies, is seen as a peaceful, kind personality on talk shows and red carpets, and has even appeared in The Spongebob Movie: Sponge on the Run as a tumbleweed named Sage. The guy is about as cool as they come, which is what makes his role in The Gift such a fun turn of events for new viewers.
Keanu Reeves Is Surprisingly Great in 'The Gift'
In The Gift, Reeves plays Donnie Barksdale, the abusive husband of Valerie Barksdale. Unlike the man who plays him, Donnie is not a pleasant guy. Every seen that Reeves inhabits, he's the guy you're keeping an eye out for. He not only makes his wife miserable, but he also gives everyone in the room a terrible time. Donnie particularly has it out for Annie after she advised his wife, Valerie, to leave him. Matters turn for the worse for Annie when Donnie becomes suspect number one in a local murder case. Annie has a vision early on in the film that Jessica King's (Katie Holmes) body is at the bottom of a pond in Barksdale's yard, so the police are sent to investigate. Her vision proves to be true, Barksdale is arrested, and a full case of the murder opens up. It is revealed later in the film that Barksdale is innocent, but with his character's history, he's the ultimate scapegoat for the crime.
Keanu Reeves is ruthless in this movie. He's about as easy to hate as they come. This is best exemplified in a scene that finds his wife, Valerie, coming to Annie's home to tell her that she can't bring herself to leave Donnie. Annie explains to Valerie that he will only continue to abuse her if she stays, but she doesn't listen. As Annie continues to try and make this clear to Valerie, Donnie can be heard shouting his wife's name in the other room. He barges into the room, threatens Annie, throws a table in the air, and starts shoving and hitting Valerie until she walks away. He even drags her out of the house by her hair! This is not your typical Keanu, Donnie is one bad dude. It's an incredibly stressful and terrifying scene that is only made more effective by how strong of a physical actor Reeves is. He's such a massive tank of a presence that he'll make viewers everywhere tense up any time he moves in on somebody.
While Barksdale is a towering monster, Reeves is also given more room to play the character in quietly evil ways. At one point in the film, Barksdale shows up at Annie's home, late at night. He says that he's there to see her about his wife, but once she lets him in to talk, he makes it clear that this is more about Annie than anything. He is aware of Valerie coming to see her about his behavior and accuses Annie of filling his wife's head with lies. Things turn stranger and oddly more threatening when Barksdale pulls out a voodoo doll, telling Annie that he will use it on her if this continues. To top it all off, Donnie even passively threatens two of Annie's children when they walk into the room. She kicks him out, but not with one last vague warning from Donnie. Reeves isn't understated in this scene in the way that he's known to charmingly deliver his lines with a little low energy. Here, he's giving a strong, don't-push-me-over-the-edge, type of performance that feels like he's truly about to snap — and if he does, it won't be good.
Keanu Reeves might not be the very best part of The Gift, but his move to play against type is absolutely the biggest surprise. He's fantastic in the film, delivering work that should be upheld in more conversations when discussing his career. Yeah, everyone knows Keanu is a fun go-to action lead, and that he also plays surprisingly well in comedies, but his skills as a dramatic actor are way too underutilized. Here's to hoping that more people catch him in The Gift and that moving forward, he's given a bit more room to break the mold that he's been typecast in.