Keanu's finest hour in inspired comedy

Rating: 8/10 (9 April 2011)

Poor old Keanu comes in for some stick, but Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure (or BATEA as I shall refer to it from here onwards) showed that he had a distinct propensity for understated exaggeration - that might sound like a contradiction in terms, but both Bill and Ted are very subtly pitched at a level just on the wrong side of accuracy.
The idea is brilliant, and the time travelling misadventures of the empty-headed pair are inspired. The script is immensely strong (both story and dialogue - how often I see films full of resources and potential which fail dismally because they don't have a script worth a dime koff koff Sucker Punch). As well as the central conceit of the two slackers and their history project problem, there are some inspired elements arising from both the time travel conceit (Bill fooling himself with the fingers) and the time travelling guests (who can fail to be tickled by Napoleon in the water park or Beethoven delighting in the wonders of electronic instrumentation).
Plus there is a moral, and George Carlin. Huge fun!