Allow the actor Smile More: An Exploration at the Actor's Performance in Good Fortune

Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, the whimsical film by actor Aziz Ansari, has been facing challenges at the box office. Many factors could explain the film's reception: Its generic name doesn't convey the film's unique charm. The script can be moralizing and heavy-handed with its themes. The performances are flat and staged, like the cast were reciting dialogue directly from the page. And, the film comes during an era marked by financial uncertainty and disparity, which may render audiences less receptive to a story which suggests wealthy individuals enjoy every benefits while those in need have heart.

However, here's where the movie excels: It's original, daring, imaginative, frequently funny, and certainly timely. Plus, it provides an unexpectedly great the actor hangout experience.

Keanu Reeves as an Angel: His Typical Portrayal

I have never considered Keanu Reeves to be a good performer. His flat delivery and consistent expression of mild perturbation has always felt one-note, regardless of the wide variety of characters he has taken on over the last four decades of his career. Smart directors have often placed Reeves in parts where his rigidity fits perfectly, from his early work to The Matrix to John Wick. Yet almost every one of those roles required him to seem hardened, closed-off, or detached.

Throughout Good Fortune, Reeves portrays an angel, one low-level guardian angel tasked with looking after people who use their phones when driving. His entire duty is remaining in their vehicles and gently touching their arms as they are about to crash, warning them in order that the driver brake in time. However, when standing overlooking his domain, gazing on humanity similar to an alternative interpretation of the angel from Wim Wenders' renowned film Wings of Desire, Gabriel becomes ambitious. He desires to be an exceptional protector and a savior of lost individuals.

A Unexpected Turn: Keanu Playing a Mortal

So, Gabriel reveals himself to struggling handyman Arj (played by the director), who's residing out of his car and cursing his life. The angel then exchanges the man with the existence of extremely rich tech mogul Jeff (played by the comedian). The idea of the exercise is that the character to understand Jeff's life has significant downsides, and gratefully return to his original circumstances, much like the character from It's a Wonderful Life.

Problem was, the character right away realizes how Jeff's problems (boring meetings, a pricey pool-heater invoice) prove negligible and readily resolved with wealth. He further sees that being affluent opens up limitless opportunities for self-indulgent fun. He has no interest in returning to his previous situation, and the angel is unable to compel him to return. Then, more bad news comes: For overstepping his duties and messing with the balance of the world, the character loses his position from his angel job, and transformed into a human being.

A Revelation: The Actor Smiles

I was never persuaded by Reeves playing an angel with grand dreams and an intense wish to make a difference. Reeves turns in a familiar somewhat stiff performance he's consistently providing for at least the past 3 ten-year periods. Watching Reeves in the role of celestial being who's recently become mortal for the first time, however, proved to be a blast, due to something that truly surprised viewers at first: This is something new for the actor. Or perhaps more accurately, something from the past.

Soon during the character's baffling experience as a human, clinging to Jeff (who Gabriel had swapped with the handyman's hand-to-mouth life and underemployed situation), the character starts tentatively experimenting with everyday experiences such as chewing and swallowing food. Then Reeves grins. Authentically, cautiously, happily smiles. (This is far more convincing than the grin shown in the promotional image, which appears digitally altered.)

The Reason That Grin Matters

It truly surprised me to realize just how unexpected and refreshing that smile was. When did we last we saw Keanu Reeves grin in a film in which he was not showing ill will, sarcasm, or bitterness? He likely tries a smile somewhere in the recent misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I am not going to returning to the mess to find out. Reeves has been typecast with grim, violent, broody, or simply solemn roles for such a duration that just watching him grin seemed like seeing a completely different actor.

While the plot progresses, Gabriel ends up needing to get a kitchen position, a role that doesn't pay sufficient to live on, and Gabriel begins chain-smoking out of frustration. Just the sight of the actor in a disposable paper food-service hat, with his late-career signature long hair pulled back in a plain bun, slouching against a wall and smoking a cigarette, proves worthy of watching. His dishwasher getup totally changes his appearance and posture: Suddenly, the lean, suited action star of the John Wick films becomes gawky, ordinary, and a lot increasingly relatable.

A Joy of Watching Reeves Relax

Good Fortune is not always enjoyable to view, particularly when the director (who additionally wrote the script) must find believable reasons for {Ar