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Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, this whimsical film from actor Aziz Ansari, is facing challenges at the box office. Several reasons may explain the film's reception: Its generic name fails to express the movie's distinctive appeal. Its script can be moralizing and heavy-handed regarding the themes. The acting seem uninspired and staged, like the actors are reading dialogue directly from the page. And, it arrives at a time marked by economic uncertainty and inequality, which may render audiences less open to a narrative which suggests rich individuals enjoy every benefits while the poor possess heart.

However, here's where the movie excels: It's original, daring, creative, frequently funny, and undoubtedly relevant. Plus, it offers an unexpectedly great Keanu Reeves character-driven experience.

Keanu Reeves as an Angel: His Typical Portrayal

I have not considered Keanu Reeves to be a good performer. His monotonal delivery and consistent look of slight perturbation has always felt limited, despite his wide range of roles he's taken on over the last 40 of his career. Smart filmmakers have cast him in parts where that rigidity fits perfectly, including My Own Private Idaho to the sci-fi classic to the action series. But almost every one of these characters called for Reeves to appear tough, closed-off, and detached.

Throughout Good Fortune, the actor portrays Gabriel, one low-level protecting angel assigned with watching over people who text when behind the wheel. The character's entire job is remaining in their vehicles and gently touching the drivers' arms when they are close to have an accident, warning the person in order that they brake before impact. However, while standing high above the city, gazing upon the mortal world similar to an alternative version of a celestial figure in the director's classic movie Wings of Desire, Gabriel becomes aspirational. He wants to be a great protector and a savior of lost individuals.

A Unexpected Shift: Keanu as a Human

Therefore, Gabriel presents his presence to down-and-out odd-jobber a character (played by the director), who is living in a vehicle and resenting his situation. Gabriel then swaps Arj into the existence of stupidly rich tech mogul a character (acted by Seth Rogen). This point behind the experiment was that the character to realize the wealthy man's existence has major downsides, and gratefully return to his original life, similar to a character from the classic film.

Issue was, Arj right away discovers that Jeff's issues (tedious appointments, expensive pool-heater invoice) prove negligible and easily resolved with wealth. Arj also sees that becoming affluent provides endless opportunities for self-indulgent enjoyment. He shows zero interest in returning to his previous situation, and Gabriel is unable to force him to return. Then, more bad news comes: Because of overstepping his mandate and messing with the balance of existence, the character is fired from his celestial role, and transformed into a human being.

The Revelation: The Actor Smiles

I was never persuaded by the actor playing an celestial being with grand dreams and an intense desire to effect change. Reeves delivers the same somewhat constipated acting he's consistently providing for no less than the past 3 decades. Watching Reeves as an angel who's just turned mortal for the first time, however, proved to be highly entertaining, due to something that really astonished viewers at first: It's an element different for the actor. Or to be precise, something from the past.

Soon into the character's confusing career being a human, clinging to Jeff (who Gabriel exchanged into the handyman's hand-to-mouth existence and underemployed situation), Gabriel begins tentatively trying out everyday activities such as eating and consuming meals. And Reeves smiles. Authentically, hesitantly, happily smiles. (This is a lot much believable than the smile on the poster, that looks digitally altered.)

The Reason This Grin Is Significant

The moment truly took me aback to realize just how unexpected and welcome that smile was. At what point was the last time we observed Keanu Reeves grin in a movie where he was not expressing ill will, irony, or resentment? He probably tries a smile somewhere in 2020's misbegotten the sequel, but I'm not going to revisiting the mess to find out. The actor has remained typecast with grim, murderous, introspective, or just solemn roles for so long that just watching Reeves grin seemed like observing an entirely new performer.

As the plot goes on, the character finds himself needing to get a kitchen position, a role that doesn't pay sufficient for survival, and he begins smoking heavily due to disappointment. Just the sight of Reeves in a cheap paper restaurant hat, with his late-career signature locks pulled back in a plain bun, leaning on a wall and puffing on a smoke, proves worth watching. The kitchen worker getup totally changes his appearance and body: Suddenly, the slim, suited action star of the John Wick movies is gawky, ordinary, and a lot increasingly human.

The Joy of Watching Reeves Relax

Good Fortune isn't always enjoyable to view, particularly when Ansari (who also authored the script) must create plausible explanations for {Ar