Good Fortune

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Good Fortune follows Arj, a man struggling on many fronts, who gets the opportunity to swap lives with a tech-bro billionaire. The intervening force? A guardian angel who is normally meant to watch over people who text and drive...

I give Good Fortune a lot of credit for actually managing to stick the subversion of the body swap/life swap film. This is a film that doesn't sit there with an obvious means to provide a greater message; Arj and Jeff swap lives, and we learn that Arj's life would be better if he had money. Good Fortune is often pretty sobering like this, making us reflect that we've become a society so built around financial gain and status that these things have become synonymous with easier access to joy. The only reason our protagonist switches back is because he vaguely realises it's 'the right thing to do', which is also interesting. The divine force that creates the swap in this movie doesn't teach the lesson; the characters genuinely arrive at it themselves. I also really liked watching Gabriel navigate life as a human being, the almost infant-like angel, realising some humans have to work three jobs to afford rent and fuel, is a nice subplot to the greater piece.

The soundtrack for the film is an absolute jam of 80s and 90s dance and rock tracks that serve the more retro-shaded elements of the film. The final frame of Good Fortune is such a slam dunk when you pair it with Real Life's 'Send Me An Angel'.

Seth Rogen, who played Jeff, is easy-going and bright in this film; I loved how strongly he played the outrage his character experienced at having his life taken away from him. Keke Palmer, who played Elena, was quite a passionate and earnest individual; Palmer really became someone you could see every day fighting a small but worthy fight. Sandra Oh, who played Martha, is one of the more balanced and serene characters; there's a bit of mysterious knowledge of fate here that keeps her role intriguing. Felipe Garcia Martinez, who played Felipe, is one of those rare gems where someone who feels fresh to acting brings charm to the film; Martinez and Reeves develop a light friendship that left me smiling.

However, the best performance came from Keanu Reeves, who played Gabriel. This film feels built for Reeves to lead the comedic direction, a surprising and innovative choice. Gabriel doesn't feel human; he is somewhat elevated and fantastical in presentation. Yet, we can feel akin to Gabriel; Reeves plays him as someone who is lost and seeking greater purpose. There's some sincerity in how much he loves humanity and wants to make a difference. Gabriel is an optimistic figure; he believes in the good of humanity. It makes the disappointment Reeves portrays all the greater, the fact that humanity can't live up to his standards. I really felt like it was a pleasure to see Reeves be both tremendously kind and provide the funniest performance of the film. Felt like the good ol' Bill and Ted days.

Good Fortune simply can't escape the fact that Arj is the protagonist the viewer has to watch. Arj is a character living a bad life, and therefore, I guess we're supposed to pity him a bit. But there's just no getting past the fact that Arj is a thoroughly dislikeable character. He talks about life poorly, he is quick to insult himself and others, he rarely cares, and yet he takes so much for granted. Perhaps this is the point? But it becomes difficult to feel like Arj is the everyday underdog when he's also a bit of a jerk. When the movie makes the billionaire tech bro Jeff more charismatic than someone living a life more approximate to the average movie-goer, something is very wrong. Arj and Jeff spend a long time in this just living their lives, so we wallow in the misery or lazy luxury of it all for far too long in the first act. The film seems almost hesitant to include Gabriel and the angels, which makes the fantastical elements feel a bit fringe and out of place. The film does something similar as it journeys towards the conclusion, having our characters sit in one another's lives for a bit too long and losing the point. It becomes very easy for Jeff to have a complete personality flip and say "all billionaires are bad", but no one really needed him to get up on the soapbox to do so. As a whole, the message for Good Fortune rings a little hollow. Arj is quite an insincere navigator, and the film just wallops you over the head with its views on the class divide in the last twenty minutes.

I really feel like the comedy genre is a good place to go to see average camerawork. Good Fortune looks washed out, and the frame is vastly empty most of the time, with other scenes struggling to capture the performers interestingly. The editing contributes to a sluggish pace, with scenes chopped up in a menial manner. The score for the film tries for a melodic thing to amp up the fantasy elements, but it's basic and a bit of a cheap sound.

Aziz Ansari, who played Arj, lets his own film down massively as the leading protagonist; Ansari is a tough person to like in this, and I never really got past that. Shoukath Ansari, who played Saleem, just feels like a talentless performer awkwardly inserted by Aziz into the film; this move might have worked back in Master of None, but it doesn't really fly here. Wil Sylvince, who played Leonard, is ridiculously unfunny in this; he feels like a rather average stand-up comic that Ansari dragged into the production. 

Despite some fun, subversive elements, you can't escape that Aziz Ansari is one of the worst possible choices you could have leading a film. I would give Good Fortune a 4.5/10.