Josh Reviews Good Fortune
Good Fortune stars Aziz Ansari, who also wrote and directed the film. (It’s his feature directorial debut.) Mr. Ansari plays Arj, a down on his luck guy living in Los Angeles and struggling to make ends meet. Arj works multiple jobs; he delivers food for a food app, works in a chain hardware store, and takes menial jobs from an app where he can get hired to do menial chores for rich people. One such rich person is Jeff (Seth Rogen), who lives an easy life of luxury. Jeff hires Arj to clean out a storage room in his mansion, and the two hit it off. But Arj can’t seem to catch a break and things look grim. Enter Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), a minor angel whose job it is to try to stop human beings from getting themselves killed while texting and driving. Gabriel wants to do more to help people, and he decides to teach Arj a lesson that his life has meaning and is worthwhile, despite his being poor. He switches Arj and Jeff’s lives for a week, expecting that Arj will learn that money isn’t everything. Of course, what Arj experiences is the opposite: his life is a HECK of a lot better with money! Uh oh…
Good Fortune is a lovely film. It’s sweet and funny. It’s anchored by the endearing performances of its lead actors, and I appreciate that the film wants to examine the tremendous wealth disparity in the United States these days (though I think the film struggles somewhat with how to resolve the issues it sets up. More on that later).
I’ve always been a fan of Mr. Ansari’s, ever since the early days of Parks and Rec. I loved his first several stand-up specials, and I thought his TV show Master of None was magnificent. Mr. Ansari was accused of unsavory behavior on a date in 2018, and it seems like he’s been mostly out of the spotlight since then. Master of None returned with one short five-episode mini-season in 2021. Them, in 2022, Mr. Ansari’s first attempt at a directorial debut film, Being Mortal, was disrupted when Bill Murray, who was starring in the film, was found by the studio (Searchlight Pictures) to have engaged in “inappropriate behavior” with a female assistant. The film was shut down and never completed. Oy! I can understand if some viewers might not want to have anything more to do with Mr. Ansari, but from what I’ve read about the accusations against him, I don’t think he’s guilty of assault nor does he deserve excommunication from the industry. Your mileage may vary, and I respect that! For me, I was open to checking out this film and giving it and Mr. Ansari a chance.
Mr. Ansari has written himself a role that plays comfortably to his strengths in Arj. Arj is likable and good-natured and funny. He wants to do well and do the right thing, but he sometimes gets in his own way. (If you think this description sounds a lot like Tom Haverford from Parks and Recs, I agree with you!) Arj is a comfortable audience surrogate character. I was rooting for him to succeed, and I was happy watching him be happy once he had Jeff’s life and money! And I understood why he didn’t want to give that up at the end of a week. I certainly wouldn’t! I like that Mr. Ansari wrote Arj to react the way I think most normal human beings would react. I also like that Mr. Ansari didn’t overdo it once Arj got Jeff’s wealth; Arj does act somewhat selfishly in not wanting to give Jeff his life back, but he doesn’t suddenly turn into a monster (which might have been the obvious, cliche choice). The film’s central dilemma works because we understand and empathize with Arj wanting to have Jeff’s comfortable, easy life; we don’t hate him for that.
The role of Jeff also feels like a very comfortable fit for Seth Rogen. Here too, Mr. Ansari’s script and Mr. Rogen’s acting choices wisely don’t turn Jeff into a cartoon villain. We the audience might share Arj’s jealousy of Jeff’s easy life, but Mr. Rogen makes Jeff so likable and fun that we don’t hate his character either. Mr. Rogen seems to be having a blast presenting Jeff as a gentle sort of buffoon with a cartoonishly easy life.
Then there is Keanu Reeves, who threatens to steal the movie out from under those two comedic powerhouses. In the angel Gabriel, Mr. Ansari has created a role that feels only a few degrees removed from Mr. Reeves’ public persona as someone who is sweet and sort of daffy. This doesn’t feel like much of an acting stretch, but Mr. Reeves is a ton of fun to watch in the role, especially once Gabriel gets stuck on Earth in the second half of the film. Mr. Reeves gets some of the funniest scenes in the movie. (The scene in which Jeff discovers Gabriel has taken up smoking is so funny.)
I also want to highlight Keke Palmer, who plays a young woman named Elena who is trying to organize a union at the hardware store where Arj sometimes works. Ms. Palmer is fantastic in the film. She’s got to make us key into Elena’s story right away, and Ms. Palmer’s effervescent charisma makes this an easy sell. I like this character and understand why Arj is smitten with her. I’m glad the film allowed the character to maintain her own agency and not just become a love interest. I do wish she was a little more involved in the third act and the resolution of the story.
Mr. Ansari has a strong comedic sense; this film is very funny. It’s not fall-on-the-floor type of funny, but I was smiling throughout. At the same time, I appreciated the way Mr. Ansari kept the story grounded and the characters realistic (for the most part). The film moves smoothly between moments of comedy to moments of drama, and back again, without feeling too herky-kerky with those shifts in tone.
I like the way the film’s story seems to change tracks every 20 minutes or so. It kept me guessing as to how this story would resolve itself, and I enjoyed that. On the other hand, there were some aspects of the story that I wish were fleshed out a little more. I feel like I saw a better version of the “immortal learns what it’s like to be human” when Star Trek: The Next Generation told this story with Q about 35 years ago (in the third-season episode “Deja Q”). I loved what we got of that story here in this film — as noted above, Keanu Reeves is very funny playing those scenes — but I feel like this could have been a more central aspect of the film overall, and could have wound up being more strongly connected to how events ultimately resolve.
Along those lines, I also wish the film’s ending was stronger. I want to avoid spoilers, so let me make two broad points. First, I’m not quite sure I really believe the choice that Arj makes at the end; it felt a little like what had to happen for the film to end, rather than something I totally bought that character would do. Second, I wish we’d gotten a few more minutes at the end to show how all the characters were changed by the ordeal. For example, I really wanted to see more about Gabriel’s life moving forward. And I particularly thought Jeff’s last scene was too quick and easy. I wanted to dig deeper to see more about what he was like now and what different choices he was going to make with his life.
Despite my feeling a little let down by the ending, I quite enjoyed the ride of this film. It’s a brisk, fun story that has a lot to say but never gets bogged down in being too serious. It’s a strong feature directorial debut from Mr. Ansari. However, I know from those magnificent first two seasons of Master of None that he is capable of more, both with his writing and his directing, so I’d love to see Mr. Ansari push himself a little more with whatever he does next. I can’t wait to see what that is.
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