Movie Review: Good Fortune

By John Corrado

The main appeal of Good Fortune, the long-awaited feature directorial debut of comic actor Aziz Ansari, is getting to see Keanu Reeves play an angel.

This is not to in any way diminish the performances of Ansari himself as a down-on-his-luck gig economy worker, or his co-star Seth Rogen as a rich tech startup bro, who end up having their lives supernaturally entwined. Together, the trio of actors share some delightful comic chemistry.

But it’s the prospect of seeing Keanu Reeves as an angel – a role built so entirely around his persona that it borders on meta casting, right down to his long black hair and monotone line deliveries – that will and should draw viewers in to this satisfying, feel-good comedy.

Reeves is Gabriel, a tiny-winged celestial protector who is genuinely well-meaning but also slightly dimwitted. As such, the angel high command led by Martha (Sandra Oh) has put him in charge of texting and driving. Gabriel, who hasn’t gotten his big wings yet, is given menial tasks preventing road accidents by tapping drivers on the shoulder when they pick up their phones. But what he really wants to do is save a lost soul.

Gabriel finds one in Arj (Ansari), who lives in his car and supplants his income working part-time at the hardware store by taking menial jobs through a TaskRabbit app. Arj gets hired by Jeff (Rogen) to clean out the garage of his mansion, and does such a good job that he ends up getting work as his assistant.

When things go south, Gabriel temporarily grants Arj the power to live Jeff’s life in an attempt to stop him from giving up completely. Gabriel wants to prove to Arj that money doesn’t buy happiness, but the problem is that he discovers it sort of does. The two end up swapping lives. Arj is now living in the mansion, while Jeff is struggling to find enough work to get by, fighting to get his old life back.

Despite the supernatural elements of Good Fortune, this is essentially a modern riff on Trading Places, that classic Eddie Murphy comedy from 1983 that saw him swapping places with Dan Aykroyd. We get the class comedy (and commentary) of Trading Places, but mixed with the metaphysical elements of A Christmas Carol and Wings of Desire, though Ansari is obviously offering a much more comedic take on similar material.

Ansari’s script works in overarching themes about navigating the gig economy, and the differences in lifestyles between the haves and have-nots. It’s a lot, and the film does paint in broad strokes at times, including with its pro-union messaging. But Ansari handles it all pretty nimbly, keeping it focused on the growing relationships between his central trio. The angelic aspect just gives a fun little supernatural twist to it.

As a directorial debut, Good Fortune offers a decent showcase for Ansari’s sensibilities as a writer and actor (Ansari’s previous project Being Mortal fell apart during production with attempts to “cancel” star Bill Murray, and never completed filming). To say that Good Fortune offers pretty much exactly what you expect from a movie written, directed by and starring Ansari is not a dig, but rather to say that he hasn’t compromised his comedic voice, in many ways honing and elevating it.

This is the sort of high concept theatrical comedy that we don’t really get anymore. There’s also a romance going on between Arj and Elena (Keke Palmer), a co-worker at the hardware store who is trying to unionize the workforce. Only once Arj swaps places with Jeff, he is just a random rich guy who takes an interest in her, and they are suddenly worlds apart.

The film also works as a pretty sweet bromance, with Arj and Jeff learning from each other despite being at each other’s throats. If these are basically roles we’ve seen Ansari and Rogen play before, they are enjoyable in the parts, and bounce off each other well. The other piece of this is obviously Keanu Reeves, who appears at his most Keanu Reeves-y, intensely delivering absurd lines such as “how will I know when I’m done chewing?” as Gabriel tries a cheeseburger for the first time. It’s a good time.