The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008 film) writing that the generally poor reception for the film was "a sad fate for a surprisingly sincere tribute to Robert Wise's 1951 classic." Kenneth Turan of the "Los Angeles Times" 'congratulated' Keanu Reeves's performance and wrote in his review that "This contemporary remake of the science-fiction classic knew what it was doing when it cast Keanu Reeves, the movies' greatest stone face since Buster Keaton." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" was not impressed with Reeves' performance, commenting that "even Klaatu looks bored and distracted, much as he did back when we knew him as Neo." William Arnold
Keanu Reeves his films. After a few minor roles, Reeves received a sizeable role in the 1986 drama film "River's Edge", which depicted how a murder affected a group of teens. Following this film's critical success, he spent the late 1980s appearing in a number of movies aimed at teenage audiences, including the lead roles in "Permanent Record" and the unexpectedly successful 1989 comedy, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure", along with its 1991 sequel, "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey". The same year he had a breakout role in the movie "Parenthood". From 1991, Reeves played bass guitar in the grunge band Dogstar.