As we’ve mentioned already, Aziz Ansari’s upcoming directorial debut Good Fortune has a number of pretty major story problems – some of which may have been fixed had the project not been a last-ditch effort to throw together a movie that couldn’t be ruined by Bill Murray’s creepy behaviour.
But one element of the movie that remains an unqualified success is Keanu Reeves’ performance as Gabriel, the guardian angel who’s been put in charge of Heaven’s anti-texting and driving initiative. But Gabriel oversteps his bounds by trying to save a lost soul played by Ansari, and ends up landing in hot water with his angelic bosses.
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Reeves’ deadpan sincerity never really gets old in Good Fortune, bringing a vitality and freshness to a joke that easily could have felt like a lame retread of John Travolta’s ‘90s dud Michael.
And, come to think of it, the “two dudes try to pass off an otherworldly outsider as a regular guy” is pretty well-worn material as well.
But again, Reeves makes it all work. Of course, it should come as no surprise that the John Wick actor has great comedic timing considering that he first burst onto the scene playing Ted “Theodore” Logan in the beloved ‘80s comedy Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
And the following year, Reeves popped up as a stoner-turned-hit man in the pitch black farce I Love You to Death, starring Kevin Kline and Tracey Ullman
But once his career blew up, Reeves became more famous for action films such as Speed, sci-fi blockbusters like The Matrix and the one and only movie in which Al Pacino plays Lucifer, attorney at law.
Recently, Reeves has seemingly been more willing to show off his comedic skills again, although mainly in bit parts, including when he played the role of “Keanu Reeves” for a cameo in 2019’s Always Be My Maybe.
And who could forget the time he voiced “Canada’s greatest stuntman” Duke Caboom in Toy Story 4?
But Good Fortune gives Reeves his biggest comedic showcase in years. And while the movie itself is nowhere near as good as the Bill and Ted movies, he gets some huge laughs as Gabriel the angel, perhaps the biggest of his career, if we don’t count all the people who giggled at his British accent in Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
