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Good Fortune, the whimsical comedy from actor the director, is facing challenges in theaters. Many reasons may account for the film's reception: The generic name fails to convey its movie's unique charm. The script can be preachy and obvious with its themes. Its performances seem flat and staged, as if the cast are reciting lines straight from the page. And, the film comes during an era marked by financial uncertainty and inequality, which may render audiences not very receptive to a story that implies rich individuals enjoy every benefits while the poor possess heart.

However, this is where Good Fortune excels: It's unique, daring, imaginative, often humorous, and undoubtedly relevant. Plus, it offers an unexpectedly great the actor character-driven movie.

Keanu Reeves as an Angel: His Typical Performance

Personally, I've never considered Keanu Reeves to be a strong actor. His flat speaking style and persistent look of mild perturbation have always felt one-note, despite the wide range of roles he has taken on during the last 40 of his career. Smart filmmakers have cast him in roles in which that rigidity fits ideally, including My Own Private Idaho to The Matrix to John Wick. Yet nearly all of these characters required Reeves to appear tough, distant, and detached.

Throughout the film, the actor plays an angel, one low-level guardian celestial being tasked with looking after people that text while driving. His entire duty is remaining in their cars and gently making contact with their arms when they're about to crash, alerting them in order that the driver brake in time. However, when standing overlooking the city, looking down upon humanity similar to an alternative version of a celestial figure from the director's renowned movie Wings of Desire, Gabriel becomes aspirational. Gabriel desires to be a great guardian and rescuer of wayward souls.

The Surprising Turn: Reeves Playing a Human

Therefore, Gabriel reveals himself to struggling handyman Arj (portrayed by Aziz Ansari), who is living in his car and cursing his situation. Gabriel proceeds to swaps Arj into the existence of extremely wealthy businessman Jeff (played by the comedian). The point behind the experiment was for the character to understand the wealthy man's existence comes with significant drawbacks, and thankfully return to his original life, similar to a figure in It's a Wonderful Life.

Issue is, the character right away realizes that the mogul's problems (boring meetings, a pricey pool-heater bill) are minor and readily resolved using money. Arj further realizes how being rich provides limitless opportunities for pleasurable enjoyment. He shows no desire in returning to his previous life, and Gabriel can't compel Arj to return. Subsequently, more trouble comes: Because of exceeding his mandate and messing with the balance of the world, the character loses his position as an celestial role, and turned into a human being.

A Discovery: The Actor Smiles

I was never persuaded by the actor as an celestial being who has big aspirations and an intense wish to effect change. Reeves delivers a familiar vaguely constipated performance he's been providing for no less than the last 3 ten-year periods. Watching Reeves as an angel that has just turned mortal for the first time, however, proved to be highly entertaining, for a reason that really astonished viewers initially: This is an element new for the actor. Or perhaps more accurately, something old.

Soon into his confusing career being a mortal, clinging to Jeff (whom Gabriel had swapped into the handyman's precarious life and underemployed status), the character begins tentatively trying out everyday activities such as chewing and swallowing meals. Then the actor smiles. Authentically, cautiously, joyously smiles. (It's a lot much convincing than the grin shown in the poster, which appears digitally altered.)

Why This Grin Is Significant

The moment really surprised me to recognize how unexpected and refreshing the smile felt. At what point was the last time we observed the actor grin in a film where he was not expressing malice, irony, or bitterness? The actor probably tries a smile somewhere in 2020's misbegotten the sequel, but I am not going to revisiting that disappointment to find out. The actor has been typecast with serious, violent, introspective, or simply solemn roles for so long that merely watching Reeves grin seemed like observing a completely different actor.

While the plot goes on, the character finds himself having to take a dishwashing job, which doesn't pay enough to live on, and he begins smoking heavily due to disappointment. Just the image of Reeves in a cheap plastic restaurant hat, with his late-career signature long hair pulled back in an unglamorous ponytail, slouching against a wall and puffing on a cigarette, proves worthy of watching. The kitchen worker getup totally changes his face and body: Suddenly, the slim, suited physical powerhouse of his famous movies is awkward, unglamorous, and much more relatable.

The Pleasure of Watching Reeves Loosen Up

Good Fortune is not always fun to view, especially when Ansari (who also wrote the script) must create plausible reasons for {Ar