Good Fortune Review
Good Fortune is a sort of film that only does things by halves. While it makes a strong statement on the economic pressures facing members of society in this day and age, it isn’t as funny as it wants to be, nor as sweet and poignant as it wants to be.
Arj (Aziz Ansari) is a down on his luck editor, working the gig economy and sleeping in his car. A well-meaning but inept guardian angel, Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), takes a shine to him. When Arj messes up a good job for rich millionaire Jeff (Seth Rogen), Gabriel has them switch bodies to show Arj how both sides have it tough - a lesson Arj immediately rejects. Gabriel and Jeff now need to team up to find a way to convince Arj his old life is worth living, so all three can return to how things were.
Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut has a curious feel to it. There are undoubtedly huge names in it - names big enough to convince as an angel! - and it is gorgeously shot, and splits across a multitude of locations. But there also is this distinct feeling of there being something small to it. Perhaps it’s that the locations are fewer and more contained than they might otherwise be, or that the story itself is very personal. It’s an interesting note to this piece.
Outside of that, the film is competently directed and plotted, with moments of laughter and poignancy mixed in amongst a plot that has been done before in better films. Keanu is fun as the fallen angel, and Aziz and Seth Rogen are serviceable for sure in their roles, but unlikely to be held up for any awards for their work.
Perhaps it is too much to expect Good Fortune to be better than it is. But there is something about this movie that feels undercooked. Is it because, with Ansari and Rogen on screen together, we expect sheer hilarity at every turn? And the handful of chuckles this movie elicits are not only mild but few and far between?
Or is it that Ansari’s inner-flection and unique voice in Master of None was so poignant, so introspective and insightful, that we expect his take on this well trodden material to be similarly electric? And it winds up being anything but?
Ultimately, this is a movie that operates on a distinct level of ‘fine’. But unlike a movie with sweeping landscapes, giant action set pieces, a propulsive score that rattles the cinema trappings, or a unique selling point that necessitates a cinema experience, Good Fortune can be ‘fine’ at home on Netflix or whatever streaming service it eventually ends up on.
