A guardian angel visits Aziz Ansari in his naïvely class-conscious feature debut Good Fortune
The pedestrian comedy of haves and have-nots doesn't have much to say, even when an angelic Keanu Reeves is saying it.
Photo: Lionsgate
It has now been 115 years since author E.M. Forster delivered one of fiction’s most withering depictions of the haves’ view of the have-nots. Dismissing the misfortunes of a lowly clerk, Howards End‘s rich, callous Paul Wilcox sternly warns his far more compassionate wife Margaret to resist the urge to have “a sentimental attitude over the poor…The poor are poor, and one’s sorry for them, but there it is.” More than a century later, economic inequality is even worse, and the wealthy’s attitude toward the rest of us remains contemptuous. It’s so enraging, it almost makes you want to laugh. Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut, Good Fortune, taps into that mixture of anger and humor—although the emphasis is definitely on the latter.
With nods to It’s A Wonderful Life, Wings Of Desire and Trading Places, Good Fortune tells the story of three very different characters who enter each other’s orbit: a gig worker, a successful tech bro, and an angel. But despite its good intentions and myriad ideas, the comedy disappoints—perhaps because its writer-director cannot fully recognize his own blind spots when chronicling the plight of those struggling to make ends meet.
Good Fortune stars Ansari as Arj, a documentary editor in Los Angeles who hasn’t had steady work in far too long, reduced to living in his car and doing Taskrabbit-like jobs. At one of these parttime gigs, he meets Elena (Keke Palmer), who’s employed at a soulless big-box store and is trying to rally her coworkers to unionize. The two hit it off, but how can a penniless guy like him take her out for a good time?
The answer seems to appear in the form of Jeff (Seth Rogen), a rich venture capitalist who has a luxurious pad overlooking the city. Blissfully residing in his bubble of privilege, Jeff hires Arj to organize his garage, but since this budding mogul needs a personal assistant, Arj convinces the guy to try him out on a temporary basis. Now finally able to afford a motel, Arj is hopeful that his prospects are changing—until a minor infraction angers Jeff enough that he impulsively fires him.
