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Aziz Ansari's directorial debut, the fantasy film from actor the director, has been facing challenges in theaters. Several reasons could account for the film's performance: The uninspired title fails to convey the movie's unique appeal. The script is often moralizing and obvious with the themes. The acting seem flat and presentational, like the cast are reading lines directly from a script. And, the film comes at a time marked by economic uncertainty and disparity, which could make viewers not very receptive to a story that implies rich people have all the benefits while the poor have spirit.

However, this is where the movie stands out: It's original, bold, imaginative, frequently funny, and undoubtedly relevant. Plus, it provides an unexpectedly enjoyable the actor hangout movie.

Keanu Reeves as an Angel: His Typical Portrayal

Personally, I've never considered Reeves a strong actor. His monotonal delivery and consistent expression of slight concern has always felt one-note, regardless of the wide variety of roles he has played during the past 40 of his career. Astute filmmakers 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. Yet nearly all of these roles required him to seem hardened, closed-off, or removed.

Throughout the film, Reeves plays Gabriel, one minor guardian celestial being tasked with watching over people who text when behind the wheel. The character's entire job is sitting in their vehicles and lightly making contact with their arms when they are about to have an accident, warning the person so they stop before impact. However, when standing high above the city, gazing upon humanity like a version of a celestial figure from the director's classic film Wings of Desire, Gabriel becomes aspirational. Gabriel wants to become a great guardian and rescuer of lost souls.

The Unexpected Turn: Keanu Playing a Mortal

So, he reveals himself to struggling handyman Arj (played by the director), who is living in a vehicle and resenting his life. Gabriel then exchanges the man into the existence of stupidly rich businessman a character (played by the comedian). This idea of the exercise is for Arj to realize the wealthy man's life has major downsides, and gratefully go back to his own circumstances, similar to a character in It's a Wonderful Life.

Issue is, the character immediately discovers that the mogul's issues (tedious appointments, expensive heating invoice) prove negligible and easily solved with wealth. Arj also realizes that being rich opens up endless chances for pleasurable enjoyment. He shows zero desire in returning to his own life, and the angel is unable to force him to go back. Then, additional trouble comes: For overstepping his duties and messing with the balance of existence, the character is fired as an angel job, and turned into a human being.

A Discovery: The Actor Smiles

I was never persuaded by Reeves playing an angel with grand aspirations and a burning desire to make a difference. He delivers a familiar vaguely stiff acting he's been offering for at least the last three decades. Watching him as an angel who's just become human for the first time, however, proved to be a blast, due to something which truly surprised me at first: This is an element different for the actor. Or perhaps more accurately, something old.

Early during his baffling career as a mortal, staying with Jeff (who the angel had swapped with the handyman's hand-to-mouth life and underemployed situation), Gabriel begins tentatively trying out everyday experiences such as eating and consuming food. Then the actor smiles. Authentically, hesitantly, joyously beams. (It's far much believable than the smile shown in the promotional image, which looks digitally altered.)

Why That Grin Is Significant

The moment truly took me aback to recognize just how unexpected and welcome the expression was. At what point was the last time we observed the actor grin in a movie in which he wasn't showing ill will, irony, or bitterness? The actor probably tries it at some point in 2020's misbegotten the sequel, however I am not going to returning to that disappointment to find out. The actor has remained stuck with serious, murderous, broody, or just solemn characters for such a duration that just watching Reeves smile seemed like observing an entirely new performer.

While the story progresses, Gabriel finds himself needing to take a dishwashing position, a role that fails to provide enough to live on, and Gabriel begins smoking heavily out of frustration. Just the image of Reeves in a disposable plastic food-service cap, with his late-career signature locks pulled back in an unglamorous bun, slouching against a wall and puffing on a smoke, proves worth the price of admission. The kitchen worker attire totally changes his appearance and posture: Unexpectedly, the slim, well-dressed physical powerhouse of the John Wick movies becomes gawky, unglamorous, and much increasingly relatable.

A Pleasure of Viewing Keanu Relax

The film is not consistently fun to watch, especially when Ansari (that also authored the script) has to create believable explanations for {Ar