Good Fortune Review

Good Fortune opens successful theaters connected October 17.

Aziz Ansari's Good Fortune is simply a funny, sharp, and saccharine clip astatine the ol' multiplex. It's an endearing, perceptive life-swap movie that uses modern trials and tribulations to cleverly upend the It's a Wonderful Life cliche, portion inactive uncovering a astute and earthy mode to clasp it.

Parts of Good Fortune astir consciousness similar a penning situation successful their ain right: How bash you marque idiosyncratic admit their beingness successful the throes of late-stage capitalism? Well, Good Fortune not lone solves this puzzle but it besides delivers a fantastic -- and little communal for modern times -- big-screen drama on the way.

We haven't heard from Ansari successful a infinitesimal but he'd already proven himself to beryllium a almighty unit down the camera a decennary agone with 2 superb seasons of Netflix's Master of None (and that engaging 3rd spinoff play helium created with Lena Waithe). He's backmost present with Master of None co-writer Alan Yang (Parks and Recreation) for a high-concept gag that inactive feels rooted successful a relatable reality. Good Fortune's honesty makes it a uncommon drama that besides feels rewarding.

Keanu Reeves, hilariously leaning into his beloved doofus persona, plays low-level Los Angeles angel Gabriel, charged with redeeming radical from car accidents owed to texting and driving. He becomes fixated connected stone bottommost Arj (Ansari), who helium sees arsenic a mislaid psyche successful request of saving. Only... that isn't Gabriel's job. And that peculiar job's a batch much analyzable than helium realizes. Arj lives time to day, utilizing task-finding apps to hardly provender and clothe himself. Living successful his car, Arj begins a proceedings tally arsenic an adjunct for affluent do-nothing tech bro Jeff (Seth Rogen). But erstwhile Gabriel decides to intervene successful Arj's life, everything spirals into a witty, insightful mess.

The always-great Keke Palmer is besides connected manus successful a beardown supporting love-interest role, arsenic Arj's co-worker trying to unionize the staff, though if you're looking for a amended show of her drama chops, 1 that played successful theaters and besides did well, cheque retired One of Them Days from earlier this year. Palmer and Rogen were really holdovers from Ansari's canceled-mid-production movie from a fewer years back, Being Mortal, truthful Good Fortune fees similar adjacent much of a triumph considering it miraculously roseate from the ashes of a erstwhile project.

Seeing Good Fortune with a theatre packed with a clump of radical who, presumably, hadn't seen the trailer, made for an adjacent amended experience. The communicative has a fewer much wrinkles than the trailer reveals, sure, but it was wide that galore viewers weren't anticipating thing circumstantial and were loving the ride. So it's an enactment -- spell successful arsenic unsighted arsenic possible. Don't adjacent ticker the videos embedded successful this review.

It makes consciousness that Ansari and Rogen would enactment precise good unneurotic connected screen, but the astonishment joyousness present is however good Keanu's Gabriel fits into the mix. It's a delightful trio of well-meaning dudes who are forced to analyse their lives, errors and all. Even Jeff, the affluent bastard who conscionable gets to person playtime each day, isn't a atrocious person. He's conscionable ignorant, with immense unsighted spots. Gabriel, though, truly is the cardinal constituent here. His enchanting guiltless beingness allows, basically, the movie to explicate wherefore the satellite sucks to a child.

Not to get excessively dense present astatine the close, but there's a James Baldwin punctuation that resonates loudly these days, and rests astatine the bosom of Good Fortune, which is "Anyone who has ever struggled with poorness knows however highly costly it is to beryllium poor." This is what the rich, entitled bootstrap brigade ever garbage to recognize. The sheer clip and vigor it takes to eke by. Good Fortune layers this successful nicely, wrapping it up successful a warm, charming blanket. Just arsenic sci-fi and fearfulness are utilized to remark connected nine and the quality condition, Ansari does the aforesaid done drama with Good Fortune.