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Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, the fantasy film by actor Aziz Ansari, has been facing challenges in theaters. Many factors could explain the film's reception: Its uninspired title fails to convey the movie's unique appeal. The screenplay is often moralizing and heavy-handed with its themes. Its performances are uninspired and staged, as if the actors were reading lines straight from the page. Moreover, it arrives at a time marked by economic anxiety and inequality, which may render audiences not very open to a story that implies rich individuals have all the benefits while the poor have heart.

But, this is where Good Fortune excels: The film is original, bold, creative, often humorous, and undoubtedly timely. Plus, it provides an unexpectedly great the actor hangout experience.

Keanu Reeves as an Angel: A Familiar Portrayal

Personally, I've not regarded Keanu Reeves to be a good performer. His flat delivery and consistent expression of slight perturbation have always felt limited, regardless of his broad variety of roles he's played over the last 40 of his career. Astute directors have often cast Reeves in parts in which that rigidity works ideally, from My Own Private Idaho to the sci-fi classic to the action series. Yet nearly all of these roles called for him to appear tough, distant, or detached.

In Good Fortune, the actor portrays Gabriel, one minor guardian angel assigned with looking after people who text when behind the wheel. His whole duty involves remaining in his cars and lightly making contact with their shoulders as they're about to crash, alerting the person in order that they brake before impact. However, while standing high above his domain, looking down upon the mortal world similar to a version of the angel from the director's renowned film the angel story, Gabriel becomes aspirational. He wants to be an exceptional guardian and rescuer of lost souls.

The Unexpected Shift: Keanu as a Mortal

So, Gabriel reveals his presence to down-and-out odd-jobber a character (portrayed by Aziz Ansari), who is residing out of his car and resenting his situation. Gabriel then swaps Arj with the existence of extremely wealthy tech mogul Jeff (acted by Seth Rogen). This point behind the exercise is for Arj would realize Jeff's life has major drawbacks, and thankfully return to his own circumstances, much like the figure from It's a Wonderful Life.

Problem is, Arj right away discovers how the mogul's problems (tedious appointments, expensive heating invoice) prove minor and readily resolved using wealth. Arj further sees that being affluent provides endless opportunities for self-indulgent fun. The character has no desire in going back to his own life, and the angel can't compel him to go back. Subsequently, more bad news arrives: Because of overstepping his mandate and disrupting the balance of existence, the character is fired as an angel job, and turned to a mortal.

The Discovery: The Actor Grins

Personally, I remained never convinced by Reeves as an angel who has grand dreams and a burning wish to effect change. Reeves turns in the same vaguely stiff acting he's been offering for no less than the last three decades. Watching Reeves in the role of celestial being that has recently become human initially, however, proved to be a blast, due to something that truly surprised me initially: This is an element different for Reeves. Or perhaps more accurately, an aspect old.

Early into the character's baffling experience as a human, clinging to Jeff (whom Gabriel exchanged into Arj's precarious existence and underemployed situation), the character begins tentatively trying out human experiences such as eating and swallowing food. And the actor grins. Authentically, cautiously, happily beams. (It's a lot more convincing than his smile shown in the poster, that appears digitally altered.)

Why That Grin Matters

The moment truly took me aback to recognize just how unexpected and refreshing the expression was. When did we last audiences observed the actor grin in a movie where he wasn't showing ill will, sarcasm, or resentment? The actor probably tries a smile somewhere in 2020's misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I'm not revisiting the mess to find out. The actor has been typecast with serious, murderous, broody, or just solemn roles for so long that just watching Reeves smile seemed like seeing a completely different performer.

While the story progresses, the character ends up having to get a kitchen position, a role that fails to provide sufficient to live on, and Gabriel starts smoking heavily due to disappointment. Simply the sight of Reeves in a cheap paper restaurant hat, his late-career signature long hair pulled back in an unglamorous bun, slouching against a building and puffing on a cigarette, is worthy of watching. His kitchen worker getup totally alters his face and body: Suddenly, the slim, well-dressed action star of his famous movies is awkward, unglamorous, and a lot more relatable.

A Pleasure of Watching Keanu Loosen Up

The film is not always fun to watch, particularly when Ansari (that additionally wrote the script) has to create believable reasons for {Ar