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Good Fortune, this whimsical comedy by actor Aziz Ansari, has been struggling in theaters. Many factors could account for the film's performance: Its uninspired name doesn't express its film's unique appeal. Its script can be preachy and obvious with its themes. The acting are uninspired and staged, as if the actors are reading lines directly from the page. Moreover, it arrives at a time of financial anxiety and disparity, that may make audiences less receptive to a narrative which implies rich people enjoy all the benefits while those in need have heart.

However, here's what Good Fortune excels: It's unique, daring, imaginative, often funny, and undoubtedly timely. And, it provides a enjoyable the actor hangout movie.

Keanu Reeves in the role of Guardian: His Typical Performance

I have not regarded Reeves a strong actor. The actor's flat speaking style and consistent expression of slight concern have consistently felt one-note, despite the broad variety of roles he has played over the last 40 years. Smart filmmakers have often placed Reeves in roles where that stoic nature works perfectly, including My Own Private Idaho to the sci-fi classic to John Wick. Yet nearly every one of these roles required Reeves to appear hardened, closed-off, and removed.

Throughout Good Fortune, the actor plays Gabriel, one minor protecting celestial being assigned with looking after people who use their phones when driving. The character's whole duty involves sitting in their cars and gently touching the drivers' shoulders as they're about to have an accident, warning the person so the driver brake before impact. But, while positioned high above his domain, looking down upon the mortal world similar to an alternative interpretation of the angel from the director's renowned film Wings of Desire, the character gets ambitious. He wants to become a great protector and a savior of lost individuals.

A Unexpected Turn: Keanu as a Mortal

Therefore, Gabriel presents his presence to down-and-out handyman Arj (played by the director), who is living out of a vehicle and cursing his life. The angel proceeds to swaps Arj into the existence of stupidly wealthy businessman Jeff (acted by the comedian). The idea of the experiment is that the character to realize the wealthy man's life comes with major drawbacks, and gratefully return to his own life, much like the character in the classic film.

Issue is, Arj right away discovers how Jeff's problems (tedious appointments, a pricey heating bill) are negligible and easily solved using money. He further sees that becoming rich provides endless opportunities for pleasurable fun. He has no desire in going back to his own life, and the angel can't force Arj to return. Subsequently, more bad news comes: Because of exceeding his duties and disrupting the order of the world, the character is fired as an angel job, and transformed into a human being.

The Discovery: Keanu Reeves Grins

Personally, I remained never convinced by Reeves playing an angel who has grand dreams and a burning desire to make a difference. Reeves turns in the same vaguely constipated performance he has consistently providing for no less than the past three decades. Watching him in the role of celestial being who's just turned mortal initially, on the other hand, was highly entertaining, for a reason that truly surprised viewers initially: This is something different for the actor. Or perhaps to be precise, something old.

Early during his baffling career being a human, clinging to Jeff (who the angel exchanged into the handyman's precarious existence and underemployed status), Gabriel begins tentatively trying out everyday activities such as eating and swallowing meals. And the actor smiles. Authentically, hesitantly, joyously smiles. (It's a lot more believable than his smile shown in the promotional image, that looks digitally altered.)

The Reason That Smile Matters

It really took me aback to realize how unexpected and refreshing that smile felt. When did we last audiences saw the actor grin in a film where he wasn't expressing malice, irony, or bitterness? The actor probably tries a smile somewhere in 2020's misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, however I am not going to revisiting that mess to confirm. Reeves has been stuck with grim, murderous, introspective, or just solemn characters for so long that just watching Reeves smile seemed like seeing an entirely different actor.

As the story goes on, the character ends up having to get a kitchen job, a role that fails to provide sufficient for survival, and Gabriel begins smoking heavily due to disappointment. Just the sight of the actor in a cheap plastic restaurant cap, his recent signature long hair pulled back in an unglamorous bun, leaning against a building and smoking a smoke, proves worth watching. The kitchen worker getup totally changes his face and body: Suddenly, the lean, well-dressed physical powerhouse of his famous films is gawky, unglamorous, and much increasingly relatable.

A Joy of Viewing Reeves Relax

Good Fortune isn't consistently fun to view, especially when Ansari (that additionally authored the screenplay) must create plausible reasons for {Ar