Aziz Ansari wants to try his hand at writing and directing a feature after the success of Master of None, and the results are a weird remake/take on Trading Places with varying results. While Good Fortune certainly doesn’t go the more obvious division of Trading Places, it does show how the upper and lower class are different and how sometimes money can solve all of our issues, with a subplot of what it means to be an angel and how the smallest of things and biggest of lessons certainly have more to say than not. While I think Ansari should have absolutely cast one of his many talented friends here instead of himself – the screenplay also needs something more to say than the tediousness of “rich man learns being poor sucks and changes his ways” because, in reality, that’s never going to fly or happen unfortunately.
The movie focuses on a few characters, but the catalyst is Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) an angel whose job is to alert distracted drivers to put their phones down before they cause an accident. He’s not fulfilled by this job, he’s sort of aggravated that he can’t do something more fulfilling, and he runs into Arj, an uber-eats esque driver whose struggling to make ends meet, lives in his car, and can’t catch a break until he meets Elena (Keke Palmer) who gives his life something to live for. While meeting someone worth while, on a job he meets Jeff (Seth Rogen), who he ends up meshing with and while they’re connecting convinces Jeff to give him a job as his assistant. This starts a good relationship between the two, and Arj feels like life is worth living again, until taking a bad piece of advice, making a stupid decision and losing everything. This is where Gabriel intervenes and has Jeff and Arj switch lives – but the problem is what poor man after getting to be a rich man and have no one know he never was poor, is going to want to go back to that lifestyle? That is where Good Fortune loses its footing, creates a complex situation for Gabriel, and ultimately becomes an obscured moral lesson.
The reason Good Fortune works at times is because of the brilliance that is Keanu Reeves. His dead pan expressions and ability to roll with the punches throughout and just stoically deliver his lines is what makes Gabriel so interesting. He’s an angel, he’s presumably seen it all, nothing fazes him, but when he gets a chance to emote and even be a little silly and get a taste of humanity it brings a level of depth to his character and performance that just shines bright. Aziz here is the weakest point unfortunately, while he is funny in his specials and when he’s doing raw comedy – his acting in his feature writing and directing debut leaves something to be desired – it just feels flat and uninspired with his performance. Rogen, is playing essentially every character he’s ever had with rare exceptions. He is the same goofball who wants to take names and doesn’t want to work hard – nothing wrong with it, but it’s not a standout like Superbad, 50/50 or his role in The Studio.
Good Fortune is harmless fun, and far less offensive than Trading Places which is basically what this is trying to be. Does it have some moments that make you appreciate life a little more, sure, do they almost all come from Keanu Reeves – yes. Ansari needs to work on having something to say that is more than something completely far fetched if he wants to say something, if he just went for the straight comedy without a message and cast someone other than himself, maybe Good Fortune would evoke more laughter than a bad fortune in a fortune cookie. Similarly to the meal that precedes the fortune cookie, the movie itself is mostly enjoyable even if some entries are a little flat.
