Making his directorial debut, Anzi Ansari brings you “Good Fortune”; a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Keanu Reeves, Martha Oh, and Keke Palmer.
Arj (Anzi Ansari) is a gig worker down on his luck, nearly homeless. He barely makes enough to get by with what little he has while living in his car. One day while out on a job, he meets Jeff (Seth Rogen) a tech billionaire who lives the easiest life imaginable. Money is no issue for this guy. Meanwhile Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), an Angel responsible for stopping people from texting and driving, gets involved in Arj’s life. Gabriel decides to remedy this by switching Arj and Jeff’s life. Now Arj is the billionaire, and Jeff is the struggling gig worker.
“I tried to show him that wealth wouldn’t solve all his problems. It seems to have solved most of his problems.” Gabriel said. But of course, tampering with the lives of humans is never good and there are consequences for Gabriel’s actions. His manager, Martha (Sandra Oh), takes his wings until he can fix the problem. Jeff starts to understand Arj’s daily struggle. He gets orders wrong and can’t drive a normal car that doesn’t have cameras, and can barely afford a motel room. And as if it couldn’t get any worse, he gets fired in favor of an artificial intelligence. To help, Gabriel gets a job washing dishes and learns the pain of getting a paycheck. He falls into drinking and smoking, and none of this struggle will change until Arj wants to switch back.
Meanwhile Arj is living it up with more money than he can count. He thinks surely this is what will win him the girl he likes, but it doesn’t. Elena (Kiki Palmer) doesn’t care about money or fancy trips to Paris, nor for a guy who is so self-centered. She cares about her people; the ones who work hard every day and still get nothing for it. Eventually Arj and Jeff switch back with a deeper respect and understanding of each other.
The movie felt like it came straight out of the 90s. Very reminiscent of “Freaky Friday” and “It’s a Wonderful Life” in its themes. Reeves, Rogen and Anzari play brilliantly off of each other, delivering lots of laughs and heartfelt moments. With beautiful cinematography throughout, Los Angeles is a character in its own right. I highly recommend this movie if you haven’t seen it yet.