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Good Fortune, this fantasy film by actor Aziz Ansari, has been struggling in theaters. Many reasons could explain its performance: The generic name doesn't convey its film's unique charm. Its screenplay is often preachy and obvious regarding its messages. Its performances seem flat and staged, as if the actors are reciting dialogue directly from the page. Moreover, it arrives during an era of financial anxiety and inequality, that may render viewers not very receptive to a narrative which implies wealthy individuals enjoy all the benefits while those in need possess spirit.

However, here's where Good Fortune excels: The film is unique, bold, creative, frequently funny, and certainly timely. Plus, it provides an unexpectedly great Keanu Reeves hangout movie.

Reeves in the role of Guardian: A Familiar Performance

Personally, I've never considered Reeves to be a strong actor. The actor's flat speaking style and persistent expression of slight perturbation has always felt one-note, despite his wide range of roles he has taken on over the past 40 of his career. Astute directors have placed Reeves in roles where that stoic nature works ideally, including My Own Private Idaho to The Matrix to the action series. Yet almost all of those roles required Reeves to seem tough, closed-off, and removed.

Throughout Good Fortune, Reeves portrays an angel, one low-level protecting celestial being tasked with looking after people who use their phones while driving. The character's entire duty involves sitting in his vehicles and gently touching their shoulders when they are close to have an accident, warning them so they brake in time. But, while positioned overlooking his domain, looking down on humanity like an alternative version of the angel in the director's renowned movie the angel story, the character gets aspirational. He desires to become a great protector and a savior of wayward souls.

A Surprising Shift: Keanu Playing a Human

Therefore, he reveals himself to down-and-out odd-jobber a character (played by the director), who's living in his car and cursing his situation. The angel proceeds to exchanges Arj with the life of extremely rich businessman a character (played by Seth Rogen). The idea of the experiment is for Arj would understand Jeff's existence has major drawbacks, and gratefully return to his own life, much like the figure from It's a Wonderful Life.

Problem is, the character right away discovers that Jeff's problems (boring appointments, a pricey heating invoice) prove negligible and easily resolved using money. He also sees how being affluent opens up endless opportunities for pleasurable fun. He shows zero interest in returning to his previous life, and Gabriel is unable to force him to go back. Subsequently, more bad news arrives: For exceeding his duties and disrupting the balance of existence, Gabriel loses his position from his angel role, and turned into a mortal.

The Discovery: Keanu Reeves Grins

I was never persuaded by the actor as an celestial being with grand aspirations and an intense desire to effect change. Reeves delivers the same somewhat constipated acting he has been providing for at least the past three ten-year periods. Viewing him as an angel who's just turned human for the first time, on the other hand, was a blast, for a reason that really surprised viewers initially: It's an element new for the actor. Or perhaps more accurately, something from the past.

Soon into his confusing career as a human, clinging to the wealthy character (whom the angel had swapped into the handyman's precarious life and jobless status), Gabriel begins tentatively trying out everyday activities like eating and consuming meals. Then Reeves smiles. Authentically, hesitantly, joyously smiles. (This is a lot more convincing than the grin on the promotional image, which looks artificially added.)

The Reason That Smile Is Significant

The moment truly surprised me to recognize just how surprising and refreshing the expression was. At what point was the last time we saw Keanu Reeves grin in a film where he wasn't expressing ill will, sarcasm, or resentment? He probably attempts it somewhere in the recent misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I am not going to returning to that mess to confirm. Reeves has been typecast with serious, violent, broody, or simply solemn characters for so long that just watching Reeves smile seemed like observing an entirely new actor.

While the story progresses, the character finds himself needing to take a kitchen job, a role that doesn't pay enough for survival, and Gabriel starts chain-smoking due to frustration. Just the sight of the actor in a cheap paper food-service cap, his recent trademark long hair tied in a plain bun, leaning against a building and puffing on a cigarette, proves worth the price of admission. The kitchen worker attire completely alters his appearance and posture: Unexpectedly, the slim, well-dressed action star of the John Wick movies is awkward, ordinary, and a lot increasingly human.

The Pleasure of Watching Reeves Loosen Up

The film is not consistently fun to watch, especially when the director (that additionally authored the screenplay) has to find believable reasons for {Ar