Allow Keanu Reeves Smile More: A Look at His Role in the New Film
Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, the whimsical comedy from comedian Aziz Ansari, is facing challenges at the box office. Several factors may account for its reception: Its generic name doesn't convey its film's unique charm. The script is often moralizing and heavy-handed regarding the messages. Its acting are flat and presentational, as if the cast were reading lines straight from a script. Moreover, the film comes at a time of financial uncertainty and disparity, which may make viewers not very open to a story which implies wealthy individuals enjoy every benefits while the poor have heart.
However, this is where Good Fortune stands out: The film is unique, daring, creative, frequently humorous, and undoubtedly timely. Plus, it offers a great the actor character-driven movie.
Keanu Reeves in the role of Guardian: His Typical Performance
I have never considered Keanu Reeves to be a good performer. The actor's flat delivery and consistent expression of slight perturbation have consistently felt one-note, regardless of the wide range of roles he's played over the last 40 of his career. Astute filmmakers have cast Reeves in parts in which that rigidity works perfectly, from his early work to The Matrix to the action series. Yet almost every one of those characters required Reeves to seem tough, distant, or detached.
In the film, Reeves plays Gabriel, one minor guardian celestial being tasked with looking after people who text while behind the wheel. His entire duty is remaining in his cars and gently touching their arms as they are close to crash, warning them in order that the driver stop in time. But, when standing high above the city, gazing upon the mortal world similar to an alternative version of a celestial figure in Wim Wenders' classic movie Wings of Desire, Gabriel becomes ambitious. Gabriel wants to become an exceptional guardian and a savior of wayward individuals.
The Unexpected Shift: Keanu as a Mortal
Therefore, Gabriel presents himself to struggling odd-jobber Arj (portrayed by Aziz Ansari), who's living in his car and resenting his situation. The angel then swaps the man into the existence of stupidly wealthy tech mogul Jeff (played by the comedian). This point behind the experiment was for the character would realize the wealthy man's existence has major drawbacks, and gratefully return to his own circumstances, similar to the figure in It's a Wonderful Life.
Issue was, the character immediately realizes how the mogul's problems (tedious meetings, a pricey pool-heater invoice) are minor and readily resolved with money. He further sees that being rich provides endless chances for pleasurable fun. The character has no desire in going back to his own situation, and Gabriel is unable to compel Arj to go back. Subsequently, more trouble arrives: For overstepping his duties and disrupting the balance of the world, the character loses his position from his angel job, and turned to a human being.
A Revelation: Keanu Reeves Smiles
Personally, I remained not convinced by Reeves playing an angel with big aspirations and an intense desire to make a difference. He turns in a familiar somewhat stiff acting he has been offering for no less than the last three ten-year periods. Watching him as an angel who's just become mortal for the first time, on the other hand, proved to be highly entertaining, for a reason which truly astonished me initially: This is an element new for the actor. Or more accurately, an aspect old.
Early during his baffling experience being a human, clinging to the wealthy character (who the angel had swapped with Arj's precarious life and jobless status), Gabriel starts tentatively experimenting with human activities such as chewing and swallowing meals. Then Reeves grins. Authentically, cautiously, joyously smiles. (This is far much convincing than his smile on the promotional image, that appears digitally altered.)
The Reason This Grin Is Significant
The moment truly took me aback to recognize just how unexpected and refreshing that smile was. At what point did we last audiences observed the actor smile in a film in which he wasn't expressing malice, sarcasm, or resentment? The actor probably attempts a smile at some point in the recent misbegotten Bill & Ted Face the Music, but I'm not revisiting that disappointment to find out. The actor has remained stuck with grim, murderous, broody, or just serious roles for such a duration that merely seeing Reeves grin felt like observing a completely new performer.
As the story progresses, Gabriel finds himself having to take a dishwashing job, a role that fails to provide enough to live on, and Gabriel starts chain-smoking out of frustration. Just the sight of Reeves in a cheap plastic restaurant hat, his late-career trademark long hair tied in a plain ponytail, leaning on a building and puffing on a smoke, proves worthy of the price of admission. His kitchen worker attire completely changes his appearance and posture: Unexpectedly, the lean, suited physical powerhouse of the John Wick movies is gawky, unglamorous, and a lot more relatable.
The Pleasure of Watching Reeves Relax
The film isn't always fun to watch, especially when Ansari (who also authored the screenplay) has to find believable reasons for {Ar