Good Fortune

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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Aziz Ansari (Parks and Recreation) directs “Good Fortune,” a likeable, colorful and glib comedy with an edge of social commentary. First and foremost, the film is bolstered by a fine comic cast including Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves. Both actors eschew formula and convention and play their parts with honesty and charm. 

An angel Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) is in a philosophical rut. He wants to do more than just save people from getting in car accidents due to texting. He happens to see Arj (Aziz Ansari) a hapless errand worker who works menial jobs just to stay afloat. He lives in his car.

Gabriel is deeply moved.

The struggling young man is working as an assistant to the somewhat self-important multimillionaire Jeff (Seth Rogen). The angel abruptly touches Arj on the shoulder, and in the blink of an eye, Arj is the multimillionaire, and Jeff is the sycophant assistant.

Arj is flabbergasted, but at the urging of Gabriel, he decides to go along with it, excited by the ease of his life. Arj becomes addicted to his new luxury condition.

Gabriel becomes troubled because he sees Jeff angry and suffering over his rudimentary existence. It was not the angel’s intent to cause suffering in any fashion.

The angel Martha (Sandra Oh) is disturbed by Gabriel ‘s action, warning that he broke cosmic rules by meddling in human affairs. She threatens to take Gabriel ‘s wings away unless he sets things as they were by making Arj want to return to his original routine.

This is an intimidating order for the innocent Gabriel.

Events regress into a comedy of errors as soon as Arj becomes one of the privileged. The film is swift and engaging with many quips and smart one liners. Keanu Reeves is excellent as the spaced-out naïve angel. He plays the role straight without kitsch which makes his acting all the more humorous. One can see the child within him, which is after all the essence of life. Rogen is a frat boy emperor, yet he also shows the human side. As an actor, Rogen has the good sense to give his role a degree of understatement.

While influenced by John Landis’s “Trading Places” and the adolescent mania of Judd Apatow’s “Superbad ,“ Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune” has a gentle positive and unassuming spirit all its own while giving the appropriate devil’s due to the 1%.

While the cosmic karma is a little too tidy, this charmed comedy with a tart capitalist edge has energy for all, not only the select few.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com