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Good Fortune, this fantasy comedy by comedian the director, is facing challenges at the box office. Several factors may account for its reception: The uninspired title doesn't express the movie's distinctive appeal. The script is often moralizing and heavy-handed regarding its messages. Its acting seem uninspired and presentational, as if the actors are reciting dialogue straight from the page. Moreover, the film comes at a time of economic anxiety and inequality, that could make audiences less receptive to a story that suggests rich individuals have every advantages while the poor possess spirit.

But, this is where Good Fortune stands out: The film is unique, bold, creative, often humorous, and certainly timely. And, it offers an unexpectedly enjoyable Keanu Reeves character-driven movie.

Reeves as an Angel: His Typical Performance

I have never regarded Reeves a good performer. His monotonal speaking style and persistent look of slight perturbation has consistently felt limited, regardless of his wide variety of roles he's taken on during the past four decades of his career. Smart directors have often placed Reeves in parts in which that stoic nature fits ideally, including My Own Private Idaho to The Matrix to the action series. But almost all of these roles called for him to seem hardened, closed-off, and detached.

In the film, the actor plays an angel, one low-level protecting angel assigned with looking after individuals that use their phones while driving. His entire job is sitting in his cars and lightly making contact with the drivers' arms as they are about to crash, warning them in order that the driver brake in time. But, while standing high above the city, looking down on the mortal world similar to an alternative version of a celestial figure from Wim Wenders' renowned movie the angel story, the character gets ambitious. Gabriel desires to be a great guardian and a savior of wayward individuals.

The Unexpected Shift: Keanu Playing a Human

So, Gabriel reveals his presence to struggling handyman Arj (portrayed by the director), who is residing out of a vehicle and cursing his situation. The angel then exchanges the man with the life of stupidly wealthy tech mogul a character (played by Seth Rogen). The point of the exercise was for the character would realize the wealthy man's existence comes with major downsides, and thankfully go back to his own circumstances, much like a figure from It's a Wonderful Life.

Problem was, Arj immediately discovers that the mogul's issues (tedious appointments, a pricey pool-heater invoice) prove minor and easily resolved using wealth. He further sees how being rich provides endless opportunities for pleasurable fun. The character shows zero desire in returning to his previous situation, and Gabriel is unable to force him to go back. Subsequently, additional trouble comes: Because of exceeding his duties and messing with the order of the world, Gabriel loses his position from his celestial job, and turned to a mortal.

The Revelation: Keanu Reeves Smiles

Personally, I remained never convinced by Reeves as an angel with big dreams and a burning desire to make a difference. Reeves turns in the same somewhat stiff acting he has been offering for no less than the last 3 decades. Watching him as an angel who's recently become mortal initially, on the other hand, was highly entertaining, due to something which truly astonished viewers initially: This is something new for Reeves. Or to be precise, an aspect old.

Soon into his confusing career as a mortal, clinging to Jeff (who the angel had swapped with Arj's hand-to-mouth existence and underemployed status), the character begins hesitantly trying out everyday experiences like eating and swallowing food. Then the actor grins. Genuinely, cautiously, happily smiles. (This is a lot more convincing than the smile shown in the promotional image, that appears digitally altered.)

Why This Grin Matters

The moment really surprised me to recognize how surprising and refreshing the expression felt. At what point did we last we observed Keanu Reeves smile in a movie where he was not showing malice, irony, or bitterness? He likely attempts a smile somewhere in the recent misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I am not going to returning to that disappointment to confirm. The actor has remained typecast with grim, murderous, broody, or just solemn roles for so long that merely seeing Reeves grin felt like observing an entirely different actor.

While the plot goes on, the character finds himself needing to get a dishwashing job, a role that doesn't pay sufficient to live on, and Gabriel begins smoking heavily out of disappointment. Just the sight of Reeves in a disposable plastic food-service cap, with his late-career signature long hair pulled back in an unglamorous bun, slouching against a wall and smoking a smoke, proves worth the price of admission. His dishwasher getup completely changes his face and posture: Suddenly, the lean, well-dressed physical powerhouse of the John Wick films becomes gawky, ordinary, and much increasingly human.

The Pleasure of Watching Reeves Relax

The film isn't always fun to watch, particularly when the director (who additionally wrote the screenplay) must find plausible reasons for {Ar