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Good Fortune, the whimsical comedy from actor the director, is facing challenges at the box office. Many reasons could explain the film's reception: The generic title fails to express its movie's unique appeal. Its screenplay is often moralizing and heavy-handed regarding the themes. The acting seem uninspired and staged, as if the cast are reading dialogue directly from the page. And, it arrives during an era of financial anxiety and disparity, which could make audiences not very open to a narrative that suggests rich people have all the benefits while those in need have spirit.

But, here's where Good Fortune stands out: It's original, bold, creative, often humorous, and certainly relevant. Plus, it provides a great the actor character-driven movie.

Keanu Reeves as an Guardian: His Typical Performance

Personally, I've never considered Reeves a strong actor. His flat delivery and consistent expression of mild perturbation has consistently felt one-note, regardless of his broad range of roles he has taken on during the last 40 of his career. Astute filmmakers have placed Reeves in roles in which that stoic nature works perfectly, from My Own Private Idaho to the sci-fi classic to the action series. Yet nearly all of these characters called for him to appear hardened, closed-off, or detached.

Throughout Good Fortune, Reeves portrays an angel, one minor protecting celestial being tasked with looking after people that text while driving. The character's whole job is sitting in their cars and lightly making contact with the drivers' arms when they're close to have an accident, alerting them in order that the driver stop before impact. But, when standing high above the city, gazing on the mortal world like an alternative interpretation of the angel in the director's renowned film Wings of Desire, Gabriel gets ambitious. He desires to be an exceptional protector and rescuer of lost souls.

A Surprising Shift: Reeves as a Human

Therefore, he presents his presence to down-and-out odd-jobber Arj (played by Aziz Ansari), who's living out of his car and cursing his life. Gabriel then exchanges the man with the existence of extremely wealthy businessman a character (acted by Seth Rogen). This point behind the experiment was that the character to realize the wealthy man's existence has major drawbacks, and thankfully return to his original life, much like a figure from the classic film.

Issue is, the character right away realizes that the mogul's issues (boring appointments, expensive pool-heater bill) are negligible and readily solved using money. Arj also realizes how becoming affluent provides endless opportunities for pleasurable fun. The character has no interest in going back to his previous situation, and Gabriel can't compel Arj to go back. Subsequently, additional trouble arrives: Because of exceeding his mandate and disrupting the balance of existence, the character loses his position as an celestial job, and turned 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 wish to make a difference. Reeves turns in a familiar vaguely stiff acting he's consistently offering for at least the past three ten-year periods. Watching him as an celestial being who's just become human initially, however, was highly entertaining, for a reason which really astonished viewers initially: This is something different for Reeves. Or to be precise, something old.

Soon into the character's confusing experience as a mortal, clinging to the wealthy character (who Gabriel had swapped with the handyman's precarious existence and underemployed situation), Gabriel starts tentatively trying out human activities such as chewing and consuming meals. Then the actor smiles. Genuinely, cautiously, joyously beams. (This is far much convincing than his grin on the promotional image, that looks digitally altered.)

Why This Smile Matters

The moment really surprised me to realize how unexpected and refreshing the expression felt. At what point was the last time we saw the actor smile in a movie where he wasn't showing ill will, irony, or resentment? The actor probably attempts a smile at some point in 2020's ill-conceived the sequel, however I'm not going to returning to that mess to find out. The actor has remained stuck with serious, violent, introspective, or simply solemn roles for such a duration that just seeing him smile felt like observing a completely different performer.

As the plot progresses, the character finds himself needing to get a dishwashing position, which doesn't pay sufficient to live on, and Gabriel begins chain-smoking due to disappointment. Simply the sight of Reeves in a cheap plastic food-service cap, with his late-career signature long hair pulled back in an unglamorous ponytail, slouching on a wall and puffing on a smoke, is worth watching. His dishwasher attire totally changes his appearance and body: Suddenly, the lean, suited action star of the John Wick movies becomes gawky, ordinary, and a lot increasingly relatable.

A Joy of Watching Keanu Relax

The film is not consistently fun to view, especially when Ansari (that additionally wrote the script) has to find plausible reasons for {Ar