I thought Keanu doing Shakespeare (he was in Much Ado About Nothing) was a pretty poor attempt too, no matter how cute he is. I think he's better in the Matrix; he's supposed to be a cypher and god knows he worked hard in those martial art scenes.

Carrie-Anne Moss is an excellent (and imho underrated) actor. She plays an uptight bourgeouis French wife in Chocolat, for example.