The successful John Wick saga, starring Keanu Reeves, began with a powerful and emotional plot twist: the death of the dog gifted by his wife. This detail not only captured the audience’s attention but also became a symbol of the revenge that drives the protagonist to confront the entire New York mafia. Despite the rather common formula of the hero against crime, the uniqueness of the premise resonated and has remained in the collective memory after four films and a spin-off.
A movie to remember
Interestingly, this gesture of loss and canine gift is not exclusive to John Wick. In 2001, Keanu Reeves starred in Sweet November, a romantic drama in which his character also faces death and pain. In this film, Reeves plays a publicist who falls in love with a hairdresser, to whom he gives a dog before she dies of cancer. The thematic similarity is notable; however, neither the creators of John Wick nor Reeves himself remembered this parallel, suggesting that Sweet November has fallen into obscurity, both due to its critical reception and its box office performance, being labeled a failure.
The criticism of Sweet November focused on the lack of chemistry between Reeves and his co-star Charlize Theron, which may have contributed to this film being forgotten even by those who participated in it. This lack of connection contrasts with the overwhelming success of John Wick, which has managed to create a solid cinematic universe around the hitman character, leaving an indelible mark on popular culture.
As a curiosity, the revelation about the forgetfulness of Sweet November has surprised Reeves, who learned of this similarity in a conversation with Theron, suggesting that, although both projects seem to be related, their impact on the audience’s memory has been drastically different.
