By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
A new Keanu Reeves movie is a big deal, especially when that movie is a one-off and not part of a franchise. Add “Outcome” on Apple TV to his film portfolio. A story that treads the line between reality and fiction, “Outcome” tells the life of a famous and beloved movie star.
It’s impossible not to make the connection between Keanu and his character in the movie: “Reef Hawk.” Apart from them both being aged movie stars with a loyal fan base and more than one blockbuster franchise under their belts, there likely isn’t any connection, though, apart from general concerns of an actor in Hollywood. These concerns center around how to nurture and maintain one’s reputation—in Reef’s case, heretofore spotless; how to process the impact of growing up in “the biz” as a child star; and how to navigate the part of one’s career that happens online. “Outcome” also tackles drug use and throws it all in with a notion of “cosmic karma.”
Reef Hawk (Keanu Reeves) might have some demons from his past to face.
“Outcome” deliberately exploits the (actually minimal) similarities between Keanu and Reef to keep us guessing. Another tactic employed is incorporating real-life personalities such as Drew Barrymore—another child star—as themselves (sort of); it’s a cute kind of joke and also highlights that certain shared problems do exist amongst the Hollywood elite. Other very famous people appear in the movie not as themselves, such as legendary director, Martin Scorcese, who plays the role of Reef’s childhood manager, “Red.” Red is always found in a video game arcade, which is a bit creepy, yet he is a seemingly wholesome dude who cares about Reef a lot.
Reef (Keanu Reeves, left) pays a call on his former manager, Red (Martin Scorcese).
The catalyst of the movie, and of this stage of Reef’s life, comes when an anonymous person attempts to blackmail Reef with a presumably spicy video. No one knows for the majority of the movie what the video depicts. They can only guess. Reef has, in his own estimation, kept his public life—or anything that might have been seen in public—on the up and up. He is, in fact, a former hardcore drug addict, yet is certain that nothing incriminating of any variety could be out there. He’s freaked, though, and so is everyone around him. Reef’s online persona is polished to a high sheen. He can do no wrong for his fans. This is very important to Reef, if not the most important thing in his life. He comes across as highly narcissistic and obsessed with his reputation. Every day, he checks online to make sure that nothing has tarnished his name. So far so good. But it’s out there. So, his lawyer, “Ira” (Johan Hill, who is also a co-writer and the director of the movie), gets together a dream team to help combat the looming threat.
The dream team reflects the new Hollywood, or the right now Hollywood since who knows what will happen next? They bend over backwards to ensure that Reef is not offending any segment of society. They gather to discuss with Reef any possible missteps. “Has he ever said the n-word?” the very funny Roy Wood, Jr. asks him in the role of Reverend Leondrus Carter. If he has, Carter is going to take him to account, and then help him erase it. Has he ever been racist towards Asians? Unis Kim, played by the unforgettable Atsuko Okatsuka, suggests that there was that one film, a loooong time ago, when Hawk was just starting out and had to take any movie offers, where there just might have been a slur against geishas. What about anti-Semitism? Oh, don’t worry about that, being an anti-Semite doesn’t hurt anyone’s career, they all assure.
Reverend Leondrus Carter (Roy Wood, Jr., left) and Unas Kim (Atsuko Okatsuka) are ready to scrub clean their actor client’s career missteps.
This is all making Reef crazy and his two best friends, Kyle and Xander (Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer, respectively), are concerned that Reef might return to drugs. As a stopgap, Reef is told that he should think of anyone he might have offended and apologize. While doing this, they might also be able to figure out who the blackmailer is. Reef starts with Red, the ex-manager, his mom, and a former lover. The question throughout this process is: Does Reef actually care? Are the apologies real? Or is this all just for Reef to save face? Keanu has the perfect deadpan face for this. I guess it’s just his face. He stares at people as they open up to him, and it’s hard to tell what is going on in there. Is Reef just upset because someone doesn’t like him?
“Outcome” is fascinating in this way. As Reef apologizes to people he hasn’t seen in years, he never thinks to apologize to the people that are still in his life. His mom, Red, the ex-lover. Each has a different response. Perhaps the apologies, in the long run, will be appreciated and erase some bad karma; yet their initial responses are very interesting. The mom (Susan Lucci), an apparently very fake just-for-the-camera person herself, is certain that Reef is also faking. Red, used to being discarded by the kids he manages once they grow up, doesn’t understand why Reef has bothered to show up now, and why did he never check in on him before? The ex-lover (Welker White) is angry, yet has moved on. She tells Reef, hurtfully, “You are a bad person.” Which makes you realize—we are mainly seeing Reef through everyone else. Who is he, really?
The movie is labeled a “thriller comedy.” To call it a thriller might be an exaggeration. The movie is not disturbing at that level, unless you include an extended scene of Ira in the bathroom, which was totally unnecessary and nothing that ludicrous ever happened again, which also made it nonsensical. Jonah Hill keeps playing this brash and offensive character with a soft middle. Not sure what I think about that, but I did really appreciate his character’s part in the underlying problem of Reef having no idea that he has hurt the people that are still close to him, that he sees every day. It was fun to watch Keanu Reeves not play John Wick, Neo, or Constantine. Fun to see how he will age on screen, what kind of parts he will take, and what topics his one-off movies will bring up. He’s fresh off of “Good Fortune,” where he plays an inept guardian angel. “Outcome” is better. It’s more layered, more intriguing, and brings up more interesting questions.
Kai can be reached at newstips@nwasianweekly.com.
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