NEWS

After being gone from comedies for some time, Keanu Reeves returns as Gabriel in GOOD FORTUNE. Along with Seth Rogen as entitled millionaire Jeff and Aziz Ansari as down on his luck Arj, this movie manages to be both funny and incredibly heartwarming. Though life-swap films have been done many times before, rarely are they done in such a unique way with nobody completely in the wrong and otherworldly characters like Gabriel more involved in the mortal world.

GOOD FORTUNE takes the idea of “walk a mile in my shoes” to the next level and adds a bit of IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE. GOOD FORTUNE follows the lives of Jeff and Arj as Gabriel switches them, hoping to show Arj that his life as he knew it was worth living. The twist to Gabriel’s good intention is that Arj sees that having Jeff’s life – plenty of money, a home, cars – is great and Arj doesn’t want to go back to his destitute life.

Aziz Ansari as Arj provides a center around which the other characters evolve. Good at balancing the comedic with the serious, Ansari gives depth to Arj, showing us a man who goes from desperately trying to survive to enjoying immediate wealth and security. Arj evolves as well, as he navigates what he gains with what he loses along the way.

As an angel, Keanu easily portrays the character of a well-meaning, incredibly naïve angel wanting to do more. When Gabriel loses his wings, he becomes human, and here, Keanu can be a little over-exaggerated in trying to learn to be mortal, though he still manages to play the part with comedic finesse, as well as making his performance endearing.

Seth Rogen plays Jeff well as both antagonist and hero. We realize Jeff is not really malicious, but ignorant of the larger world around him. While Arj is the intended beneficiary of Gabriel’s plan, Jeff’s life is transformed as well. Instead of seeing Jeff as a man who gets his comeuppance, Seth Rogen's performance shows us a man who loses everything and the struggle he endures to survive. Rogen easily manages to be a compelling main character.

Definitely a strong statement on the state of our society, GOOD FORTUNE manages to walk us through this complicated journey and bring us to a satisfactory resolution. Overall, this film was very enjoyable.

7/10