As a hopeless guardian angel, Keanu Reeves is a comic godsend in Aziz Ansari’s Good Fortune
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Keanu Reeves stars as Gabriel and Sandra Oh as Martha in Good Fortune, Aziz Ansari’s directorial debut.Eddy Chen/Supplied
Good Fortune
Written and directed by Aziz Ansari
Starring Aziz Ansari, Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves
Classification 14A; 97 minutes
Opens in theatres Oct. 17
Critic’s Pick
Given that you can count the number of theatrically released 2025 comedies on one hand – and still have a finger or two left over to flip the bird to comedy-averse Hollywood studios – we should praise the heavens that Lionsgate presented Aziz Ansari with enough money to make the consistently funny Good Fortune for the big screen. But not too many resources, given that so much of Ansari’s directorial debut feels like it needed just a few more dollars spent in the editing room. And maybe an infusion of cash and time during the script development stage, too.
There are solid laughs every few minutes, but the big-screen presentation of it all − where you’re compelled to pay attention to the composition of every frame and the pace of every sequence, versus streaming a comedy at home whilst scrolling through your phone − reveals the stitches and nearly burst seams of Ansari’s presentation. Is it good fortune, or just good luck, that the filmmaker made it across the finish line?
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Seth Rogen plays Jeff, a finance mogul in Hollywood.Eddy Chen/Supplied
A high-concept comedy that mashes together elements of everything from Trading Places to Freaky Friday to Wings of Desire to It’s a Wonderful Life, Ansari’s film focuses on three very different kinds of Los Angelinos. Ansari’s Arj is the focus, a gig worker who has just about hit rock bottom, living in his car and showering at the local gym between humiliating odd jobs. On the other end of the socioeconomic spectrum is Jeff (Seth Rogen), who has benefited from family money to become a finance mogul, his mansion situated high in the Hollywood hills. And then there is Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), a real-deal guardian angel who has the lowly job of saving people from texting-and-driving accidents, but is looking to grow his wingspan.
After Arj is hired by Jeff for a few household tasks − and then unceremoniously fired − Gabriel sees an opportunity to play a game of spiritual switcheroo and swap Arj and Jeff’s circumstances. But failing to anticipate that Jeff has a pretty great life − one that Arj isn’t willing to let go of without a fight − Gabriel gets stripped of his heavenly powers by his cloud-surfing boss (Sandra Oh, rounding out the curiously Canadian-heavy cast).
Aziz Ansari has become the master of his own good fortune
It is all fairly silly and sometimes wildly uneven stuff, with Ansari’s rather dark socioeconomic themes often colliding uneasily with a barrage of lighthearted zingers. But the laughs rarely let up, with Ansari committed to ensuring that barely a minute passes by without a wry observation or sharp gag. While your mileage may vary on Ansari’s line delivery − which can lean toward the incredulous − he is a wily on-screen presence, consistently energizing and sympathetic. Rogen, meanwhile, is as dryly hilarious as ever, especially once the tables are turned on Jeff.
And yet it is Reeves, no stranger to the genre but not exactly a lean and mean comic force on par with his costars, who steals the show. Ansari wisely not only gives Gabriel the best dialogue, but he also allows Reeves to fully embrace a character equal parts hopeful and helpless. After a decade or so of watching Reeves do little more than dispatch anonymous assassins in the John Wick films, it’s a true joy to watch the actor discover a new side of himself in what feels like real time. God bless.
