Star of the week: Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves seems to be in a state of permanent confusion, whether he's doing, like, Shakespeare, or being a slacker surf bum

If Soviet Russia was a mystery wrapped inside a riddle inside an enigma, what does that make Keanu Reeves? He is by turns hilariously bad, amusingly wooden and just downright painful. And his little-boy-lost look is on full display in Sweet November (reviewed on page 13). But he has endured because he has all the determination - and the worldliness - of a puppy.

He is still the shy kid who dealt with being teased by offering up an unthreatening smile. He is widely considered to be adorable, and not just by teenage girls. Bernardo Bertolucci was so charmed by Reeves's shyness and inarticulacy that he cast him as Sidd-hartha in Little Buddha.

The resulting film, a lavish piece of coffee-table mysticism, led to the formation of a Keanu religion, the Cult of No Way. The name is based on the actor's trademark gasp of disbelief first used in Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, in which he played a stoner dude prone to bouts of air guitar. The cult celebrates Reeves's entrenched inexpressiveness on screen and his more free-ranging pronouncements off it.

Of his brush with Buddhism, he commented: "I don't think I'll forget that although a table sounds and feels hard, in a certain consciousness it's empty space."

Of the craft of acting, he replied: "I don't know anything, man. I don't know what I'm saying."

The perception of Reeves as a dopey, monosyllabic adolescent dates back to his early roles when he played that character repeatedly. In River's Edge, The Prince of Pennsylvania and Parenthood he was always the troubled teen, shuffling round the place with his hands in his pockets.

When he outgrew his adolescent parts and broadened his range, there was no discernible difference. In I Love You to Death he was a dopehead hitman. In My Own Private Idaho, he was a dopey dropout in ripped jeans.

The best screen actors are said to have a secret, some essential quality they hold back. Reeves unquestionably has this. His eyes suggest a deeply held sensitivity that dates back to his unstable upbringing (one mother, four fathers). It is the release of these buried feelings and thoughts that proves so arduous - for viewer and performer alike.

As the saying goes, the whistle blows, but the train don't move. Watching Reeves struggle to articulate his thoughts is like watching struggling sperm - only one will make it to the finish line and even then there's no guarantee it will result in anything positive.

Dina Meyer, a co-star of Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic, observed: "You can see the wheels are turning, but you can't figure him out - if he's happy, if he's sad . . . you just want to say: 'What's happening in there?' " The Reeves conundrum proved tantalising enough for one instructor to teach a course on the actor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Students were obliged to read Hegel and Foucault in their quest to understand the appeal of the actor "who has a peculiar detachment that doesn't allow for the kind of psychological relationship that you usually have with a traditional method actor.

"When Keanu performs, it's as if he has a foot of Robert Bressonian space around him." (Bresson directed the famously austere Pickpocket and Diary of a Country Priest.) Reeves's response when told of the course was dependably illuminating: "I guess I'm not really involving my imagination to that of a circumstance or happening - I'm just kind of acknowledging it as an existence."

His leap to ironic pop culture icon came with Speed, a surprise summer smash in 1994. Reeves's contribution to this bomb-on-a-bus thriller was to remove his character's quips and one-liners and concentrate instead on his desire to "do good".

Reeves wanted to make his FBI agent more realistic, although he didn't change after the destruction of a cargo plane by his character while in hot pursuit. In real life it would have been cheaper to spare the plane and pay the villain's ransom demand.

Reeves struck the action jackpot again with The Matrix five years later, when his constitutional air of befuddlement meshed perfectly with the demands of the film's intricate fictional universe. Who better than Reeves to play heroes who can initiate much needed exposition by asking: "Wait a minute, let me get this straight?" In between these two hits, his choice of projects has verged on the myopic. Banal action romps, gooey romances, outright cheesy comedies. When he puts on a foreign accent, such as his attempt at some dulcet English tones in Bram Stoker's Dracula, he takes earnest awkwardness to a new stratosphere.

Always busy (whatever the result, he is an obliging delight on set), he is shrewd enough to mix things up. But his attempts to play villains, as in The Watcher and The Gift, reveal only that he is a natural softie. Rest assured, his mushy side will be on full display in the forthcoming Hardball, a treacly tale of little league baseball in the hood (white coach, black team, hugs all round), and, of course, in Sweet November.

At 36, Reeves still looks and acts like the sensitive, damaged sixth-former. He dresses in ripped jeans and clunky boots. He wanders around with stubble and bedhead and occasional forays into black nail polish.

He rides a motorbike and can often be found muttering contentedly to himself in the foyer of the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, where he has lived for the past seven years.

In his spare time, he plays bass for a folk-punk trio called Dogstar, who are not, he admits, hugely accomplished - Reeves didn't take up the instrument until he was 23. Their two CDs, Quattro Formaggi and Our Little Visionary, sell fantastically well in Japan, but have yet to make much impact elsewhere. He doesn't seem to mind.

Yet it must be said that he does have a weird kind of adolescent integrity. If he wasn't famous or rich, he'd probably still act the same way.

Keanu Reeves: Romance after tragedy

Romantic comedy Sweet November provides a stark contrast to the personal tragedy that befell star Keanu Reeves before and after filming.

He loved the script so much he agreed to star in Warner Bros' football drama The Replacements in order to secure its backing.

But just months before the shoot his partner Jennifer Syme miscarried. The couple then split, and Syme was killed in a road accident in April this year.

Reeves says he was ready for a romance after playing a violent husband and a serial killer in, respectively, The Gift and The Watcher.

"At the time I was really looking for something like this," he says of the film, in which he plays an emotionally blocked executive who discovers love.

"I hadn't done a film like this since A Walk In The Clouds. It was time to put romance back into my career."

Reeves says the part was a tonic after the intensity of his role in The Gift.

"I got to see how that kind of violence could happen but I was surprised I could feel that kind of rage so easily. That's one of the things I love about acting - you learn things about yourself."

Driving ambition

Having proved his box office worth with hits like The Matrix and Speed, Reeves was allowed to hand-pick his Sweet November co-star.

His choice was towering ex-model Charlize Theron, his co-star from 1997 hit Devil's Advocate.

"It's not essential for me to have this kind of connection with a co-star because we're actors, but it allowed us a certain comfort level with each other," he says.

He explains why he wanted to play a man whose unorthodox relationship turns into love.

"Charlize's character wakes my character up to what is important. He becomes more human. Love is one of the most exhilarating things you ever experience. I know I've had relationships that have been really important to me."

The star has not done badly for a boy who dropped out of his Toronto school 12 years ago and hit Hollywood with just a battered Volvo to his name.

"It had bricks under the seat and newspapers covered the holes in the back," he recalls. "But I had faith that I was going to make it.

"I had this feeling about what I wanted to do. I remember doing a scene out of Romeo And Juliet in 10th grade and loving it."

Love is in the Air This July With the Arrival of "Sweet November" On VHS and DVD; Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron Star in this Touching, Romantic Drama

"Sweet November" Offers Consumers the Chance to Win a Club Med Vacation with an Exciting Summer Promotion

BURBANK, Calif. (ENTERTAINMENT WIRE) - On July 24, Warner Home Video (WHV) will charm audiences with the romantic drama, "Sweet November," available for rent on VHS and for sale on DVD ($24.98 SRP). "Sweet November" is part of an incredible, nine-title summer promotion that offers consumers the chance to win a fun-filled Club Med vacation.

"Sweet November" features two of today's hottest stars, Keanu Reeves ("The Matrix," "The Replacements") and Charlize Theron ("The Cider House Rules," "The Legend of Bagger Vance"), along with Jason Isaacs ("The Patriot") and Greg Germann (TV's "Ally McBeal").

In this re-teaming of "The Devil's Advocate" duo, high-powered advertising executive Nelson Moss (Reeves) is a self-absorbed, emotionally isolated man focused on his future and oblivious to the here and now ... until the day he meets Sara (Theron), a charming, free-spirited woman whose lust for life disrupts Nelson's single-minded drive. Intrigued by each other, they settle on a rather unconventional courtship that results in a life-altering, unforgettable romance.

"Sweet November" is rated PG-13 and has a running time of 120 minutes.

The "Sweet November" DVD is available in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio and 16x9 widescreen format and includes the following features:

1. Behind-the-scenes documentary "Sweet November": "From the Heart," including interviews with stars Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, as well as the filmmakers.
2. Original theatrical trailer.
3. Cast/filmmaker career highlights.
4. Languages/subtitles: English and French (dubbed in Quebec).

Consumers who rent any three of the above nine June and July Warner Home Video, New Line Home Entertainment and/or HBO Home Video titles will receive a $100 gift certificate by mail towards a Club Med getaway. Customers who rent any of these titles, moreover, can enter to win one of five, exciting Club Med vacations, which include round-trip airfare for two, a seven-night stay at one of Club Med's select locations and $500 in spending money.

Tom Selleck Stars in TNT'S "Crossfire Trail," Also Available on VHS and DVD in July

On July 10, Tom Selleck ("In & Out," "Three Men and a Baby") returns with TNT's outstanding adaptation of "Crossfire Trail," the highest rated movie in cable history, from author Louis L'Amour. Selleck, who also starred in TNT's "Last Stand at Saber River" and "Running Mates," plays a restless drifter who risks everything to protect a friend's widow from the schemes of an unscrupulous land-grabber and his gun-toting henchmen.

A record-setting 38-million viewers watched the television broadcast of "Crossfire Trail," making it the third most watched program of the night, surpassed only by "The Golden Globe Awards" and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." The "Crossfire Trail" DVD is available in 16x9 widescreen and includes cast career highlights as well as subtitles in English and French. "Crossfire Trail" will be available for rent on VHS and for sale on DVD ($19.98 SRP).

With operations in 78 international territories -- more than the video division of any other studio -- Warner Home Video commands the largest distribution infrastructure in the global video marketplace. WHV's film library is the largest of any studio, offering top quality new and vintage titles from the repertoires of Warner Bros. Pictures, Turner Home Entertainment, Castle Rock Entertainment, HBO Home Video and New Line Home Video.

Contact: Warner Home Video, Burbank Josh Sabarra, 818/954-6897 or Douglas, Cohn & Wolfe Claire Mullaly, 310/967-2965

SATISFACTION COUNTS: Hungry one afternoon last year when he was shooting "Sweet November" in San Francisco, Keanu Reeves pulled his motorcycle up in front of the Nob Hill Cafe and asked the woman sitting outside if the restaurant was open. It wasn't, said Heather Carola, an opera singer who works as hostess and server and was taking a break between lunch and dinner. But she'd give him lunch, she said, and went into the kitchen to whip up some pasta and fish.

The next day, Reeves turned up to say thank you with gifts of wine and candles. He's back in San Francisco shooting "Matrix 2," and he's a regular customer.

KIDS ARE OK: On Friday night, students from Mill Valley's Tam High crossed the street to the Redwoods senior center for a "senior prom." The senior citizens, in all their finery, and seniors and juniors, in everything from suits to T-shirts, danced to a swing band. Cynthia Glinka, dance instructor to the stars, gave lessons. "If I can teach Keanu Reeves to dance, I can teach a bunch of high school kids," she said.

Desire to make films with rating of PG-13 means fewer sex sceneson big screen

If you wanted to see Charlize Theron's nude profile or catch a glimpse of Keanu Reeves submerging himself in a bathtub with her, you're out of luck - and you have the Motion Picture Association of America to thank. In the wake of last year's congressional hearings into the marketing of violent material to youth, the pressure on studios to back away from violent and sexual material appears to be having a dramatic effect.

PRODUCERS AND PRODUCTION executives are reporting that studios are extremely wary of edgy material aimed at youth. Some producers also say that the MPAA has become more demanding before it awards the coveted PG-13 rating. With respect to two recent films - "Sweet November" and "Saving Silverman" - the producers say the MPAA required the filmmakers to cut material that previously would have passed muster. "Sweet November" producer Erwin Stoff says the MPAA asked for cuts in that film that would not have been deemed necessary before; "Silverman" producer Neal Moritz says he had the same experience. "I just don't like the fact that it's so arbitrary, what causes one to be an R and what causes one to be a PG-13," he says. In both cases, the MPAA raised objections to sexual material - not the violence that was supposed to be the target of federal inquiries into marketing to young audiences. Some studio executives have suggested the creation of a new PG-17 category, which would fall between PG-13 and R.

DEFENDING THE FORMULA But in a presentation at ShoWest this week, MPAA chief Jack Valenti defended the current system, saying most of the complaints come from industry professionals and critics, not from those it was intended to serve, the movie-going public. Still, he acknowledged that the system isn't perfect, leaving open the chance that some adjustments might be made.

The dilemma facing the studios has as much to do with profits as it does with politics. During the hearings, several of the studios voluntarily agreed to eschew advertising of R-rated films during programming with a substantial youth audience (35 percent or more under the age of 17). Reaching the vast, young movie-going audience becomes much more difficult if a film can't be advertised on "Friends" or on MTV during most of the day. If the marketing of R movies is restricted, says a producer, "Does it not make sense that studios [would] begin to feel that their upside on those movies is limited? After all, you're looking at a world where 'Matrix' may not be able to be advertised on MTV."

Studios have long preferred a PG-13 rating because they naturally want to bring in the biggest possible audience. At ShoWest, National Association of Theatre Owners head John Fithian praised the major studios in a press conference for heeding theater owners' pleas for more family-oriented product. He said that out of 147 wide releases in 2000, 58 were R-rated. That compares to 87 out 150 in 1999. (The MPAA reports that among all rated films - including even straight-to-video, unreleased films - R-rated films accounted for 69 percent.) That decline came before the impact of the congressional hearings could have made itself felt.

RISING TREND With the new guidelines in place, however, the decline in R-rated pictures will probably become more dramatic. As reported in the Los Angeles Times, Universal dropped Rob Zombie's "House of 1000 Corpses," calculating that the picture would get an NC-17. The studio says the decision has nothing to do with the political climate. But Zombie is hardly alone.

"Unless it's something they are so passionate about, at certain studios it's got to be PG-13," says producer Beau Flynn. Exceptions would be genre-specific material or a franchise sequel (the next in "The Matrix" series or a follow-up to "Hannibal," for example). Flynn said his nearly completed "Slap Her She's French' (put in turnaround at DreamWorks) "was very much on the line between PG-13 and R, very edgy, [with] a lot of sexual innuendo. Now it's been stripped down, and it will be PG-13."

Moritz, who produced "Cruel Intentions" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer," says he was "definitely under pressure" to make cuts in "Saving Silverman" to get the PG-13 rating, adding that he believes the cuts hurt the film. "They let the violence go," Moritz says. "They were much tougher on the sexual content."

Stoff, who manages Keanu Reeves and was a producer of "Sweet November," says the picture was originally an R but Warner changed its mind. Expecting the film to appeal to young teen girls, he says, the studio correctly insisted that the picture be released as PG-13.

"The manner in which we were able to advertise the movie was suddenly limited severely and in my opinion, the MPAA became much tougher on what was a PG-13 versus an R movie," Stoff says. "Was the movie substantially changed? No. Were those scenes better before? Yes."

Keanu Reeves may be the object of many women's affection, but when his "Sweet November" co-star Lauren Graham jumped into bed for a sex scene with the dark-haired box-office hunk, the experience was "totally frightening" for her.

"Even though it was, like, 30 seconds, it was the most traumatic event of my life," says Graham, who has a supporting role with the "Matrix" star in "November," Reeves' new film.

"It's just really weird doing that with someone before you've even gone out to dinner," she says. "It's sort of like, I like to be naked only after I've been wined and dined a little bit, you know?"

But the 5-foot-9-inch beauty is already over that trauma and on to the next: choosing a dress to wear to the Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday, March 11. Graham has been nominated for Outstanding Performance in a Drama Series for her work on the WB's "Gilmore Girls."

Charlize Theron steps all over Keanu Reeves' toes when he spins her around a dance floor in the filmed-in-San Francisco romance "Sweet November." In reality, the opposite would probably occur. Theron is a trained ballet dancer, while her co-star is more adept at flying through the air than two-stepping.

Local dance instructor Cynthia Glinka was brought in to transform the Matrix breaker into Fred Astaire. "I got Keanu all to myself," Glinka told us, sounding breathless from the experience. The two practiced at a cavernous ballroom on Broadway.

Reeves expressed an interest in swing and the tango. When Glinka started to show him, the filmmakers told her to stop. Seems the scene called for a fox trot, and "they were afraid he would get confused." As it was, Reeves had a hard time maintaining his posture while concentrating on his feet. Glinka had to remind him to straighten up.

But he was a dream compared with David Caruso, who refused to take off his boots while Glinka trained him to maneuver around the Palace Hotel's ballroom floor for the 1995 movie "Jade." "Big clunky boots inhibit your movement. I figured if I could make David look good, I could do the same for Keanu."

-- Reeves may be back in the Bay Area soon for the sequel to "The Matrix." While most of it will be shot in Australia, we hear a road is under construction near the former Alameda Naval Air Station to be used in a couple of action scenes.

Three years ago Keanu Reeves was feeling particularly romantic. He immediately began searching, not for the right girl, but for the right movie. The result of his search is Sweet November, the story of a wildly free-spirited woman and the man she lavishes her love and attention on for one month. It's a remake of the 1968 film that starred Sandy Dennis and Anthony Newley as the most mismatched of lovers.

The updated version has Reeves playing Nelson Moss a crude, self-important advertising executive and Charlize Theron as Sara Deever, the kooky animal activist who virtually kidnaps him. Sara wants Nelson to see just how empty his life really is. She wants to awaken his repressed romantic nature. "I was actively looking for a romantic comedy. I hadn't done one since A Walk in the Clouds. I had a feeling it was time to put a little romance into my career," recalls Reeves.

His manager Erwin Stoff had purchased the rights to Sweet November years earlier and had a new screenplay by Kurt Voelker. Reeves liked the project enough to go to Warner Bros. and ask them to let him make it. Part of the deal was to make Warner's football movie The Replacements first.

Reeves brought the film to Theron who'd played his wife in The Devil's Advocate.

"Charlize and I already had a comfort level that I knew would allow us to bring an authentic, intimate investment to the love story. It's not essential for me to have this kind of connection with a co-star. We can pretend, fake and simulate. That's what actors are paid to do but I'd rather it be authentic and it was with Charlize and me."

Through the relationship, Sara completely changes Nelson's life.

"I've had relationships that have been very nurturing, but I've never had a Sara Deever in my life.

"But I really dig romance. It's one of the most exhilarating things I've ever experienced."

Theron was thrilled Reeves asked her to play Sara.

"It's not the kind of character Hollywood thinks of me for. You wear enough gowns and get on enough magazine covers and some people think that you can only do glamour," says Theron.

For most of the film, Sara wears bizarre mismatched outfits. The first thing she does to Nelson is take away his suits forcing him to wear T-shirts and worn jeans.

"I loved that Sara wears baggy pants and chunky shoes. That's really much more who I am than the girl on those magazine covers."

Though Sara does change Nelson, Theron says she shies away from such a notion in her own relationships.

"When you get into a serious relationship, you see the potential and the possibilities in the other person. The most you should ever try to do is make your partner aware of these possibilities."

For the past three years, Theron has been dating Stephan Jenkins, the frontman of Third Eye Blind.

"Romance is very different for me than it is for Sara. She loves the big moments. I prefer what I call non moments. I'm not high on planning. Simplicity is always more interesting and inviting for me."

Theron does like romantic movies, especially those that give her a big cry.

"I absolutely love Once Around. Holly Hunter falling in love with the older man played by Richard Dreyfuss.

"I saw it when I was 16. I desperately wanted to meet an older man.

"I still think older guys are hot.

"I've never been big on age. I don't place importance on it at all in a relationship. The only place I draw the line is at 17-year-old boys because I've been told it's illegal," she jokes.

Theron hails from South Africa where she says her name was a constant source of amusement for classmates.

"No one had heard the name before.

"That's certainly not the case any more.

"My mother went back to South Africa recently and discovered that every fourth baby girl is being named Charlize.

"I'm starting my own little nation. I guess that's what comes of having a little celebrity."

New 'AOL Superstar' Special Premieres With Keanu Reeves; America Online is The Place for Fans to Go to Interact with Their Favorite Celebrities. Issue: Feb 13, 2001

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 13, 2001

America Online (AOL), a wholly-owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, Inc., today announced the premiere of "AOL Superstar," a new feature on the AOL Entertainment Channel, the No. 1 entertainment destination in cyberspace, that brings celebrities and fans together for the ultimate online interactive experience.

The first featured star is Keanu Reeves, who co-stars with Charlize Theron in Warner Bros.' upcoming romantic drama, "Sweet November," which opens on February 16, 2001.

As AOL's first "Superstar," Keanu will participate in a live chat on February 14 at 9:30 p.m. EST. Fans can chat with Keanu about the experience of filming "Sweet November," the making of the follow up to his hugely successful film "The Matrix," and the latest on his band Dogstar.

AOL members will not only be able to chat live with this heartthrob this Valentine's Day -- but also simultaneously view the event in a streaming Webcast at AOL Keyword: Live.

Fans can also interact with Keanu through his personal Web page on AOL Hometown (hometown.aol.com), where he'll be answering questions from AOL members and can also create their own Keanu fan pages on AOL Hometown, using special photos and artwork. AOL members can log on at AOL Keyword: Keanu Reeves or AOL Keyword: Superstar.

"We're confident that AOL members will be as excited as we are about 'AOL Superstar,' as it truly brings celebrities and fans together in an environment that's both fun and interactive," noted Lewis Dvorkin, vice president of content strategy, AOL. "America Online is dedicated to bringing its members the best possible online experience, and bringing them closer to the hottest celebrities with 'AOL Superstar' is just another way to provide that unique experience."

Reeves began stealing hearts from his early appearances in such feature films as "River's Edge," "Dangerous Liaisons," and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." More recently, his roles in "Speed" and as Neo in the highly acclaimed, sci-fi thriller "The Matrix" earned him some of the best accolades of his career.

In "Sweet November," Keanu plays Nelson Moss, a workaholic executive whose only intimate relationship is with the bottom line...until he meets SaraDeever (Charlize Theron), a charming spirit who brings out the best in men.

Intrigued by each other, but not quite ready to commit, they settle on a rather unconventional courtship: a one-month trial, after which they'll go their separate ways. No expectations. No pressure. No strings attached. What neither of them counts on is falling in love.

About America Online, Inc.

America Online, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, Inc. Based in Dulles, Virginia, America Online is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies and e-commerce services.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Business Wire

COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group

On a New York promotional tour this weekend to discuss his and costar Charlize Theron's upcoming new film, "Sweet November," the "Matrix" star, 36, revealed that some revealing shots of him and Theron ended up on the cutting room floor, including one of them together in the altogether in a bubble bath, reports PEOPLE.com. "I wish that the producers hadn't gone for a PG 13," Reeves said of the "November" rating, "because there are certain moments in the film where the nudity, mine and hers, makes the characters much more vulnerable. And I think that, in a romance and in life, (that) is important." Speaking of vulnerable, "There was a scene, it's not in the film, but Charlize and I are in bed and we're sleeping and (a child) comes into the apartment and wants to show us some of his toys that he's made. And I remember being a kid his age and walking into . . . my mother's room, and I was that guy that that kid saw. It was just funny to me, and made me kind of realize that, uh, I'm a man, that I could be a father, and be in that role, be there. It's kinda, kinda cool." Which begs a question. "You mean," said Reeves, "would I like to have kids? Sure."

Put a month of the year in the title of a movie and the chances are it'll be schmaltz.

Of course, there are movies with months in the titles that are hardly squishy, like The January Man, April One, The Hunt For Red October, August, September, September Storm, September 30 1955, October, The October Man, October Moth and December.

But how many romantic movies can you name with a month in the title. Remember these: April Showers, April In Paris, April Love, April Romance, May Fools, Maytime, June Bride, June Night, September Affair and December Bride?

I remember seeing the 1937 Jeanette MacDonald-Nelson Eddy picture, Maytime, in a rerun at the Voortrekkerhoogte military base bioscope when I was a child. I soon became conscious of the stilted performances those wooden worthies always gave, and I always think of the film when I hear its keynote schmaltz song, Sweetheart.

It was thick schmaltz too But the most saccharine of that lot is surely the 1957 Pat Boone feature, April Love, the title song for which Boone turned into a hit - and it was thick schmaltz too.

But that chocolate box selection is to be joined by Sweet November, which Nu Metro will release in South Africa on May 4.

Directed by Pat O'Connor, it is, according to Nu Metro publicity bumf, the story of "a busy advertising executive who meets a free-spirited woman who persuades him to spend a month with her so that she can help him work through his unresolved emotional issues".

What? He's a big-shot without medical aid that would get him a good shrink? Tsk-tsk. No wonder he takes up with some flopsy who has read many a self-help article on the notice boards of shopping malls. Hardly prepossessing fare.

But look who the stars are: Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, both beautiful but arguably two of the blandest performers in Tinseltown. (Incidentally, Theron can also be seen in the mawkishly sentimental Men Of Honor, in which she plays Robert De Niro's rather common wife. That she does well.)

Let's hope Sweet November will have a plausible story to bolster their sucking faces.

Larkspur dance coach Cynthia Glinka spent a day teaching Keanu Reeves how to fox-trot for a scene in "Sweet November," which was shot in San Francisco and opens next month.

"He had no dance skill whatsoever," said Glinka, who warmed up Reeves for co-star Charlize Theron, who needed no warming because she's a dancer. After six hours, Reeves asked Glinka a question she had never been asked in 20 years of coaching: "What do I do with my ankles? " Glinka: "They're connected to your feet, so just keep your feet moving."

If you can trot like a fox, Glinka hosts a monthly dance with the San Francisco Starlight Orchestra at the Strawberry Rec Center in Mill Valley. The next one is Feb. 3. Call (415) 485-5500.

Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron shot some sizzling love scenes while in San Francisco making "Sweet November" last spring. But don't look for them on the screen when this offbeat romance hits theaters next month. To qualify for a PG-13 rating -- translation: bigger box office -- the steamy stuff got cut out.

Reeves complained to us about the edits, calling them "bizarre." The Matrix breaker has a point. Theron's character runs a sort of one-woman sex clinic out of her Potrero Hill apartment, ministering to a different needy client every month. How do you sanitize that story without compromising it?

Reeves, who plays an uptight ad executive who's transformed by being Mr. November, described one tinkered-with scene of him and Theron in a bathtub. "I turn around and go underneath the bubbles, and then you hear Charlize laugh. Well, you can't have that because it makes it an R-rated picture. It's OK if you just see our heads above the water. But the breasts that we suckle as infants are R-rated, and showing a nice intimacy between two people is R-rated. "

While professing to love San Francisco, Reeves admits that he got out of town on his days off. "I went to maybe two restaurants. I had a motorcycle, so I kind of left and went north."

He did, however, spend a lot of time in Savannah, Ga., while making "The Gift," a thriller opening next Friday. Since he plays what Reeves calls "a redneck -- and I don't mean that in a derogatory way," he was curious to see some rough Southerners up close. "I wanted to walk the walk and talk the talk. " So he got a pickup truck and went barhopping. Wasn't he recognized? "Sure. But that only lasts for a few minutes. If you hang out, you are just people after a while."

Nelson Moss (Keanu Reeves) is on the verge of becoming emotionally extinct. He is in the advanced stages of workaholism, devoid of any noticeable intimacy skills. Then one November day he meets Sara Deever (Charlize Theron), a free spirit with a special gift for healing emotionally scarred men.

Sara offers a unique "cure" for what ails Nelson. Reluctantly, Nelson is persuaded to play along, but what neither counts on is falling in love. By November's end, they each make a courageous sacrifice for their new love.

Producer Deborah Aal Stoff (also Reeves' manager) first saw the original Sweet November in 1969, and was so deeply affected by its emotional impact that the story stayed with her for over 30 years. Stoff and her husband, producer Erwin Stoff, began developing the romantic drama about two years ago.

"What appealed to Keanu," she says, "was the idea of doing a movie that had absolutely not one blue screen, not one carchase, not one fight sequence; it was just about relating to another character."

She adds "one of his greatest qualities is that he is both enigmatic and incredibly vulnerable. He also makes a great jerk. I think that combination of qualities is exactly what the character needed. The role also gives Keanu an opportunity to show a different side of himself which a lot of people, particularly women, are anxious to see."

For his part, Reeves liked the script and the changes that happen to Nelson Moss in the story. "I like what happens to Sara and Nelson in the piece and the nature of choice it presents," says Reeves.

"The love that grows between them opens up a whole new world for him. He can smell the flowers. With love and appreciation of this other person, he gets to become more of a human. It's a great part in a good piece, and I was glad to be there."

When the script was completed, the first choice for Sara Deever was Charlize Theron. Reeves and Theron had previously starred together in The Devil's Advocate and had remained friends. When Theron read the script she immediately related to the material and wanted to be involved.

The essence of Sweet November's unconventional and fresh love story appealed to Theron. "To me it was original and not something that's been seen a lot," she said.

"There is always something nice about going to a film that can entertain you and move you the way this love story does, but at the same time I think this film will really make you think about what life is really all about."

After Reeves and Theron were cast, the next crucial element was finding a director who would shape Sweet November as the Stoffs envisioned it. The producers felt that the movie would need a European sensibility to capture the intimacy and the edge of the mundane that real life is about.

"I had seen Circle of Friends and Inventing the Abbotts and was very interested in Irish director Pat O'Connor," says Stoff. "His movies are all about relationships, and the silences in his movies speak volumes. He understands sentiment and feeling as opposed to sentimentality. He finds the beauty in truth."

CHARLIZE: NO STEAM

Date:24-Dec-2000
From:http://www.nypost.com/

KEANU Reeves says he's steamed that his steamy scenes with Charlize Theron have been trimmed from "Sweet November." In one of the edited sequences, Reeves and Theron share a bubble bath in which he dives underwater during a sex act. The Hollywood hunk's dip has now been relegated to the cutting room floor. "That's a drag," Reeves tells TV Guide online, "because I think it shows a nice intimacy and humanity . . . I trust Pat O'Connor, the director, and he says the cuts don't compromise what we did. But I think you lose something."

Some steamy sex scenes shot for the upcoming Keanu Reeves & Charlize Theron romance Sweet November (opening Feb. 16) have wound up on the cutting-room floor, and the pic's leading man is peeved with Warner Bros. for bowing to pressure from the MPAA.

Production Ends On Warner Bros. Pictures' and Bel-Air Entertainment's ``Sweet November,'' Starring Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron. Issue: July 14, 2000

Entertainment Editors

BURBANK, Calif.--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--July 14, 2000

Warner Bros. Pictures' and Bel-Air Entertainment's "Sweet November," starring KEANU REEVES and CHARLIZE THERON, has wrapped production. Production commenced April 6 in San Francisco.

In the 3 Arts Entertainment Production, Reeves portrays a busy advertising executive who meets a free-spirited woman (Theron) who persuades him to spend a month with her so that she can help him work through his unresolved emotional issues. What neither counts on is falling in love. Directed by PAT O'CONNOR ("Dancing At Lughnasa," "Circle of Friends"), the film also stars JASON ISAACS ("The End of the Affair"), GREG GERMANN ("Ally McBeal"), FRANK LANGELLA ("Dracula") and youngster LIAM AIKEN ("Stepmom").

DEBORAH AAL STOFF, ERWIN STOFF ("The Matrix," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me") and ELLIOTT KASTNER produce the film. STEVEN REUTHER ("Sommersby," "Pretty Woman," "Made In America") and WENDY WANDERMAN serve as the executive producers. The screenplay is by KURT VOELKER & BECKY JOHNSTON, based on Herman Raucher's 1968 screenplay, "Sweet November."

ED LACHMAN, A.S.C. ("Erin Brockovich") serves as the director of photography and ANNE COATES ("Erin Brockovich,"Academy Award-winner for "Field of Dreams") is the editor. NAOMI SHOHAN ("American Beauty") is the production designer. SHAY CUNLIFFE ("City of Angels") is the costume designer.

The film was shot over 10 weeks at various locations throughout San Francisco, including Potrero Hill, the Mission District, the Presidio and the Financial District, and on stages on Treasure Island.

Keanu Reeves recently starred in the Warner Bros. Pictures megahit "The Matrix" and will next be seen in "The Replacements" for Bel-Air Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures. He starred opposite costar Theron in "The Devil's Advocate." Charlize Theron starred in the Oscar-nominated "The Cider House Rules" and will be seen in Robert Redford's "The Legend of Bagger Vance."

The film will be released by Warner Bros. Pictures.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Business Wire

COPYRIGHT 2000 Gale Group

On Set Reports(Spoilers)

Date:05-19-2000
From:http://www.sfgate.com/
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=*)

The outdoor tables along 18th Street on Potrero Hill have been packed lately. For the price of a latte, locals can watch the making of ``Sweet November,'' an offbeat romance starring Charlize Theron as a neighbor who takes a new lover every month and Keanu Reeves as Mr. November.

We joined the gawkers just in time to catch Theron, looking pale and wan (apparently her character is at death's door), walk by in combat boots fetchingly worn with pink socks. She's followed by a Yellow Cab occupied by the Matrix breaker himself. He tries to entice her to get in with sweet talk and flowers.

The two rehearse this bit a half-dozen times. When the cameras start to roll, Theron puts out her cigarette (ill advised for someone in her presumed condition), and Reeves' puny bouquet is replaced with a bountiful one. As the scene is reshot again and again, the coffee drinkers become restless. ``Going to a movie is a lot more exciting than watching this crap,'' one woman is heard to complain.

Movie Insider was here with P.J. Johnston, the always cheerful executive director of the San Francisco Film Commission. Being of good cheer helps when he goes around to check that filming isn't disrupting local businesses. Popping into Potrero Hill shops, Johnston gets good reports -- especially from those being paid for their storefronts to appear in ``Sweet November.''

On-Set Reports: Nothing to juicy in these eyewitness reports folks, but they do give a chance for others living nearby to be alerted as to what may be going on in their local area, especially when what's going on is shooting on films starring Keanu Reeves & Mel Gibson. Thanks to 'David' & 'naskar258':

"I live in San Francisco and on my run the other day I witnessed filming of a new Keanu Reeves movie called "Sweet November". The shooting was taking place in a 4,000 brick Tudor house on the corner of Broadway and Baker in San Francisco. The house has a gorgeous out look of the SF Bay with views of the Bay Bridge, Alcatrazz, and the Golden Gate. At the end of Broadway on the west side, the street ends at a big iron gate and dirt road that lead into the Presidio. They will be shooting vehicles entering the dirt then cutting to the house to make the appearance of a long driveway and gate leading up to the home."

Charlize Theron says no to ''Pearl Harbor'' -- The actress explains why she's passing up a star-making role in Disney's high-priced epic

'SWEET' TALK Theron will star in the smaller ''November'' instead of the big-budget ''Harbor'' by Craig Seymour

Industry buzz had it that Charlize Theron would likely become a female lead in ''Pearl Harbor,'' Disney's WWII epic whose $135 million preshooting budget makes it the most expensive film ever greenlit. But the increasingly hot Theron, who next stars opposite Ben Affleck in John Frankheimer's ''Reindeer Games'' (opening Feb. 25), tells EW Online that she's passing on the project. Instead she'll join Keanu Reeves in a remake of the '68 romantic drama ''Sweet November,'' which starts shooting at the same time as ''Harbor.'' ''Whomever is in it [''Harbor''] will probably become a huge star and the movie will do extremely well,'' says Theron. ''But I know I'm here [in my career] because I've always made decisions based on what felt right to me and what felt challenging to me.'' Theron denies that her choice was influenced by the negative hype surrounding ''Harbor'''s initial price tag, which dwarfs the greenlighted bugets of both ''Titanic'' (less than $100 million) and ''Waterworld ($65 million). ''I made my decision based on the character in 'Sweet November,''' she says. (We can see why: In the original version, Sandy Dennis plays a woman who takes a new lover every month.) So while ''Pearl Harbor'' still has ''Armageddon'' director Michael Bay at the helm, and lots of stunt people, pyrotechnics, and ''Titanic'''s water tank to re-create the infamous Dec. 7, 1941, attack, it's now short one soon-to-be A-list actress. But, then again, with a $135 million budget the producers can surely afford a new one. Rennie Zellweger, perhaps

LOS ANGELES - Charlize Theron is in negotiations to star opposite Keanu Reeves in Warner Bros./Bel-Air Entertainment's remake of the 1968 drama "Sweet November." The project takes Theron out of the group of possible contenders for Disney's big-budget epic "Pearl Harbor".That Jerry Bruckheimer-produced extravaganza is to be directed over a period of five months with Michael Bay at the helm. No cast has been set. "November," to be helmed by Pat O'Connor, tells the story of a work-obsessed man (Reeves) who comes into contact with a woman (Theron) who takes a new lover each month. After falling in love with her, he discovers she is dying of cancer.

``Devil's Advocate'' costar Keanu Reeves in a remake of the 1968 film ``Sweet November'' for Warner Bros.

The film, with a script by Kurt Voelker, will be directed by Pat O'Connor (``Circle of Friends''). Theron chose the project over an offer to play the female lead in ``Pearl Harbor,'' the WWII Disney epic that Michael Bay will direct.

``Sweet November'' originally starred Anthony Newley as a Gotham-based tycoon who falls for a woman who insists on taking a new lover each month because she is dying. Theron will play the dying woman.

Reminiscent of his decision to take on the sweeping romance "A Walk in the Clouds" after breaking out in the action-packed "Speed," actor Keanu Reeves is in final talks to star in a remake of the 1968 love story "Sweet November," fresh off his sci-fi-action megahit "The Matrix."

Financed by Warner Bros. and Steve Reuther's Bel Air, the film is written by Kurt Volker and is set to be directed by Pat O'Connor ("Circle of Friends"). Daily Variety reports that the feature will begin production Feb. 28. Upping his post-"Matrix" base salary, Reeves is expected to receive $15 million against 15% of the feature's gross.

Already on its way to the cineplex for Reeves is the football comedy "The Replacements," co-starring Gene Hackman and set for release by Warner in August. The "November" project represents one of two films the actor will headline before settling in for a 250-day shoot filming two sequels to Larry and Andy Wachowski's "The Matrix." That production is set for winter 2001.

The original "Sweet November" starred Anthony Newley as a wealthy Gotham businessman who falls for a girl who insists on a new lover every month because of a fatal illness. Erwin Stoff and Deborah Allan Stoff, a former high-profile television executive who retired to teach screenwriting at USC, are producing the current project.

When Reeves showed interest last summer, Deborah Stoff decided to come out of retirement to develop the script, which was a longtime passion. Their mutual interest led to O'Connor, an Irishman who lives in London with actress-wife Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Besides "Circle of Friends," O'Connor has directed "Dancing at Lughnasa" and "Inventing the Abbotts."

The movie will be Reeves' first love story since the $100 million worldwide-grossing "A Walk in the Clouds." His representatives in negotiations for the film were CAA and 3 Arts. O'Connor and scripter Volker were both repped by UTA.

Plans for Reeves' next film before "The Matrix" sequels have not yet been set, although Variety has speculated that he may opt for "Fishing for Moonlight," a story about a stockbroker who risks his livelihood to rescue a Russian woman caught up in prostitution.

That project is being set up at Village Roadshow Pictures (also responsible for "The Matrix") by producers Dylan Sellers and Erwin Stoff. The screenwriter is Jack Olson, who recently completed "33 Liberty Street" for Warner Bros.