Good Fortune
"Good Fortune" is a fantasy comedy that's far more prince than pauper.
Film Yap is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Comic Aziz Ansari makes an auspicious and inspired feature directorial debut with the fantastical comedy “Good Fortune” (now in theaters).
Ansari stars as Arj, a down-on-his-luck gig worker who’s living out of his car. He does a variety of jobs from delivering food to working at a hardware store where he meets Elena (Keke Palmer). She wants to unionize to make their workplace better; he just wants to make ends meet. Despite being displeased with his lack of ambition/vision, Elena takes a liking to Arj.
After doing a task on behalf of wealthy venture capitalist tech bro Jeff (Seth Rogen) – namely cleaning and organizing his garage while he saunas and cold plunges – Arj shoots his shot and asks to be the man’s assistant. Jeff accepts on a probationary basis.
The gig doesn’t last long after Arj uses the company card to pay for a dinner date between he and Elena. He insists he planned to pay the money back and Jeff was the one who initially pressured him into eating at this fancy joint, but it makes no matter – Arj is out. To add insult to injury, Arj’s car/home gets towed over unpaid parking tickets. He’s at his lowest and sees little reason to keep on living.
Enter Gabriel (a very game Keanu Reeves), a guardian angel who specializes in stopping people (Arj included) from getting into texting and driving accidents. Gabriel wants weightier work like saving a lost soul and sees Arj as an awesome opportunity to do so, but he’s told by his boss Martha (Sandra Oh) that this work is reserved for larger-winged angels such as Azrael (Stephen McKinley Henderson).
Gabriel disobeys Martha’s orders and intervenes on Arj’s behalf. They decide it’s best for Arj to live Jeff’s life for a while and vice versa. Martha hears of Gabriel’s insubordination and makes him mortal as punishment. The only way he can earn his wings back is to get Arj to willingly return to a life of poverty – a TALL order.
“Good Fortune” is reminiscent of many fantasy comedies such as Warren Beatty’s “Heaven Can Wait,” Albert Brooks’ “Defending Your Life” and Kevin Smith’s “Dogma” with a healthy dose of John Landis’ “Trading Places” thrown in for good measure. The picture has plenty of laughs and heart and has worthwhile (if somewhat on-the-nose) things to say about class disparities in this country. Ansari, Rogen and Reeves all give great performances and have solid chemistry with one another. Palmer and Oh are good as well, but are given far less to do.
Qualitatively this comedy is far more prince than pauper. It narrowly misses being heavenly, but I consider myself fortunate for having seen it.