Good Fortune Delivers Laughs, Wings, and a Little Grace

Good Fortune

★ ★ ★

Good Fortune is written and directed by comedian Aziz Ansari, who also stars as down-on-his-luck Arj. Ansari explores a concept similar to Trading Places where a Wall Street commodities broker named Louis (Dan Aykroyd) trades places with a street hustler named Billy Ray Valentine (Eddie Murphy) as part of a bet between two millionaire brothers.

Here, a life-swap occurs when a guardian angel named Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) sees an opportunity to show Arj money won’t solve his problems. It’s a quietly funny exploration of that concept, told from three perspectives. At times, it dries out when it leans too hard on its own cleverness but manages to remain a cute little film.

Keanu Reeves as Gabriel and Sandrah Oh as Martha
© 2025 Lionsgate

Arj is a hard-working man doing everything he can to make ends meet while pursuing his documentary-film career. He works part time at a big-box hardware store and moonlights running task-based errands and food deliveries for app based services. He counts on positive reviews to keep earning gigs. He accepts a job cleaning out the garage of venture capitalist Jeff (Seth Rogen). Arj does such a good job that Jeff agrees to try him out as his personal assistant.

Meanwhile, Gabriel has become complacent in his angelic role. He’s only allowed to save people from texting and driving. At a meeting of angels, led by the head angel Martha (Sandra Oh), Gabriel becomes envious when he hears the great things other angels are doing for people. He believes he’s destined for more. When Arj is fired by Jeff, Gabriel sees how devastated he is and takes it upon himself to help.

Aziz Ansari as Arj and Keanu Reeves as Gabriel
© 2025 Lionsgate

Gabriel tries to convince Arj that Jeff’s wealth won’t solve his problems or make him happy. Arj is certain that’s not true, so Gabriel switches their roles. Arj now lives Jeff’s life of luxury, while Jeff finds himself broke and struggling to make ends meet.

It’s not a new concept, but its freshness lies in its characters. Ansari manages to make suffering endearing—easily evoking our sympathy. Rogen’s Jeff is someone you’d want to have a beer with, even in his aloofness toward the plight of the common man.

But it’s Reeves who steals the show. He plays Gabriel with deadpan, young-surfer-dude style and gives us a character who genuinely wants to make a difference. In many ways, Gabriel is seeing the world for the first time after a career in the backseat of cars where his job is to place a gentle hand on a driver’s shoulder to remind them to look up from their screens and avoid disaster.

One of the film’s best moments comes from a scene where Gabriel loses his wings and becomes mortal because he’s screwed things up so badly. Jeff takes him to a fast-food restaurant for the first time. He’s never experienced hunger—or eaten—before. Watching Gabriel react to his first hamburger, and then his first “chicken nuggies,” presents a charming, child-like humor that Reeves pulls off flawlessly.

Aziz Ansari as Arj and Keke Palmer as Elena
© 2025 Lionsgate

Good Fortune doesn’t really try to teach us a life lesson, which is kind of refreshing. Rather, it’s an exploration of how characters react to lives they never thought they’d experience. It struggles when it focuses too long on one character, which slightly muddles the narrative. There’s a time when we ignore Arj for a while, but when we come back to him, it takes a moment for the film to reestablish its rhythm.

Still, this is a fun little movie that doesn’t try to push past its own ambitions. It’s just a film that tries to tell a good story and mostly succeeds, in no small part, thanks to Reeves and his often funny portrayal of Gabriel. But remember, if you happen to be in the car and feel a tap on your shoulder as you pick up your phone, there may be an angel riding with you. And he may have given up a life of delicious chicken nuggies.