The film Good Fortune transforms Keanu Reeves from everyone’s favorite gun wielding assassin in the John Wick universe into a miracle wielding angel with wings that are a couple sizes too small. I’m a Keanu Reeves fan, and just the idea of him as a slightly goofy angel was enough to get me into the theater because I had a feeling that Good Fortune might be a bit of a pet project for him. Honestly, it felt like he was having a lot of fun with this one.

But, how did he do? How does this new comedy hold up for a theatrical release with the slow return of comedy to the theater, especially at a time when it feels almost impossible to get people to the movies because of the insane increases in the price of everything from toilet paper to pasta. Let’s talk about Keanu’s angelic comedy. Is Good Fortune the break you need or are you still waiting for a comedy miracle?

You can read the review below or watch the video review on YouTube:

Good Fortune is the story of Gabriel, a lower rank angel whose main job is to stop people from texting and driving. He is not exactly fulfilled by his heavenly duties and wants something a bit more meaningful. He wants to truly help someone, not just play traffic cop from the back seat for eternity.

That’s when he crosses paths with Arj, a regular guy who has been beaten down by life and is hanging on by a thread. Gabriel sees this as his chance to finally do something that matters, to help guide a soul, and to find a little purpose in his own eternal existence.

When Gabriel swaps the lives of Arj and the super a super rich tech bro named Jeff, he expects it to be a simple lesson. Show Arj what he has in his life that’s worth living for and then switch them back. Except Arj had different plans, and that is where conflict and comedy collide as this life swap, lesson learned story goes suddenly sideways.

First Impressions

One of the first things you notice about Good Fortune is that this story structure has been done a million times. The idea of an angel or supernatural being giving people a chance to see life from someone else’s perspective is nothing new. We have seen versions of this before in It’s a Wonderful Life, The Family Man, Freaky Friday, and so many other films. What’s nice about Good Fortune is that it picks a tried and true structure for the story, but it really dances around the line of falling into a cliché or becoming a boring “seen it before” type of movie.

Still, a well-worn story structure doesn’t mean that a film like Good Fortune can’t work. It just means that the film needs to do more work to fill in the story with new conflicts, new details, and unexpected character arcs that play into the comedy, drama, or both that will generate a feeling from the audience. Good Fortune actually does just that, and the freshness comes from the fact that each of the three characters in this ensemble film experience an arc, not just the characters who gets the life swap to learn a lesson. That is different and frankly having the angel learn a lesson in the process is a brilliant way of reinventing this structure.

Comedy That Works

What is clear within the first few scenes is that Good Fortune remembers what a comedy is actually supposed to do. Yes, it is meant to make you laugh. Yes, it is meant to give you those moments of delight and absurdity. Yes, it tells the truth about our lives by holding up a fictional mirror that reflects the parts of ourselves we don’t always want to acknowledge, especially not in front of other people! Then it dares us to laugh at how ridiculous, hard, unfair, or self-absorbed our situations have become, while still giving us permission to laugh without shame.

The strength of Good Fortune lives in the way it exposes the growing gap between how people believe life should work and how life actually works. The film doesn’t just acknowledge that gap. It walks straight into it and settles down with a soda and popcorn, elbowing us in the ribs while pointing at the screen. It reminds us that it is possible to laugh at our own pain when we watch Arj struggle to earn enough to eat, find somewhere safe to sleep, keep a job, or even go on a date without calculating the financial damage. Through his circumstances, we see our own frustrations thrown back at us in technicolor, and in that reflection, we feel pain, empathy, and humor collide. When comedy tells the truth at that level, it reaches across class, gender, and experience so that everyone can see a piece of themselves, whether they admit it or not. In that moment of recognition, something meaningful happens … we laugh and it feels really good.

Real-Life Themes

This is where the film surprised me. I wasn’t expecting it to hit so hard with the realities of everyday life that we are all experiencing right now, whether you are in the US, Canada, Europe or somewhere else. Groceries are expensive. The gig economy sucks. People with full time jobs are living in their cars and showering in gyms because they do not have anywhere else to go. It highlights how hard we try and how easy it is to fail.

It also looks at people who sit at the top of the system and genuinely do not understand how difficult life has become for everyone else. They are not cruel. They’re just removed. They do not feel the weight of what five dollars will buy and how one more straw on the camel’s back is like a parking ticket that brings the whole damn house of cards tumbling down … and then Good Fortune lets us laugh because what else can you do?

Cast and Characters

This film avoids lecturing through comedy. Instead, is shows us the complexities of life for the rich and the poor through Jeff’s and Arj’s reactions to their changed circumstances. However, it’s Gabriel’s reaction to them both that helps to put their situations into perspective and creates the comedic relief needed to keep this from being a predictable, depressing drama, and it’s the sweet innocence that pulls it all together. Together, the three of them have real chemistry on screen, which is essential in a comedy.

Gabriel, played by Keanu Reeves, starts out as a well-meaning but naive angel who believes he’s capable of more than just saving people from texting and driving. Can you think of a more thankless angel job? The thing about Gabriel is that he is in a thankless job and even his boss doesn’t see his potential. So, he makes some questionable decisions our of a sincere desire to do good and fails. That’s where his story gets interesting because suddenly, we realize the not even angels have all of the answers in life.

Arj, played by Aziz Ansari, is exhausted by life. In fact, he can’t even afford to live and Aziz Ansari captures that perfectly as an actor as well as the writer and director of the film. He totally “gets” the ups and down of humanity, making the film feel relevant wherever you are in life. His quirky acting style might grate just a little, but it’s a great foil (no pun intended) to both Gabriel’s sweetness and Jeff’s obliviousness. Arj’s arc is about realizing what’s important in life, and I don’t mean that in a “he learns how to be happy and poor” way, which would have felt tone deaf rather than relevant.

Seth Rogan plays Jeff, the ultra-wealthy tech bro. He seems cool and down to earth, which Seth Rogan pulls off easily, but Jeff’s total lack of understanding of ordinary life shows his tin ear especially when giving Arj advice. Once he’s dropped into Arj’s life, he learns really quick what working hard gets you and what survival actually looks like. That is where his growth comes from, and it’s a character arc that works well and Rogan does a solid job with Jeff as a person.

The Flaws and Fixes

As much as I enjoyed this film, and I really did enjoy it, Good Fortune is not a perfect movie. There are a few logic gaps and strange character decisions, some scenes over stay their welcome, and a few of the joke fall flat. The thing is, people do strange things in emotional chaos, and the best storytelling always lives in those honest but imperfect decisions that create relatable conflict.

My biggest wish list item for Good Fortune is that it had a better soundtrack with a little more personality. While this isn’t always true, music adds an extra layer to the storytelling, especially in a comedy, that can heighten a moment or release tension or sharpen the focus of a scene. Sadly, I don’t even remember the soundtrack at all. It’s not a deal-breaker in a film like this, but it just would have been nice to have one or two songs that felt like they built a moment in the film.

Is it Ticket Worthy?

So, is Good Fortune ticket worthy? Well, it’s an easy yes for me because I am actually going to go see it again with friends. I was fortunate enough to see a screener of it, and I laughed out loud in a theater full of strangers who were all laughing with me. That shared moment of joy is something that I feel like we have been missing lately. We need more joy, and real comedy in theaters has been rare for too long. Good Fortune is a good time with friend, family, kids, grandparents, and even completely strangers.

However, if you are someone who really doesn’t like seeing story structures reused or somewhat goofy comedies are not your favorite thing, this movie might not be for you. Still, I really thought it was a great time and I am glad I went.

Final Thoughts

So that is it for me. What did you think of Good Fortune. Are you planning to see it. Have you already seen it. What do you think about comedies? Are you willing to pay to watch them in the theater or would you rather just wait and see them on streaming? Thank you so much for being here with me on this one. I had a lot of fun with this movie and even more fun talking about it with you. Go see this movie with a friend and give yourself permission to laugh. You deserve that moment of happiness.

If you enjoyed this review, please give it a like and subscribe for more. You can also visit my YouTube channel at @ErinUnderwood for more videos.

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If you’d like to watch GOOD FORTUNE, you can use my Amazon Associate links:

• Good Fortune (Blu-ray): https://amzn.to/47dAfDU