For years I have wondered what if Clarence the Angel in It’s a Wonderful Life targeted Mr. Potter instead of George Bailey. What if Mr. Potter had seen how much better the world would be without him? That’s a very different movie, huh? It’s very Christmas Carol-ish, eh? The joy of It’s a Wonderful Life is the realization that commonplace lives can have huge positive impacts on a community.
They can.
They usually don’t.
And what if your guardian angel intervenes to show you exactly how pathetic, nay, how unrewarding life seems to be even when you catch a break or two. Making his directorial debut, comedian Aziz Ansari writes and directs Good Fortune, a film about how much life sucks in El Lay for gig economy participants. Psst, the gig economy sucks everywhere; it’s just more noticeable in El Lay. Arj (Ansari) is a college educated documentary filmmaker. And in Los Angeles in 2025, those words mean absolutely nothing. His current career is doing odd jobs when an app tells him. It’s like Uber, but instead of driving, he accomplishes something for a person he doesn’t know.
We catch Arj in line for gourmet pastries. He gets a parking ticket for his two-hour wait. The bakery runs out before he has a chance to buy. Over the phone, he pleads with the client to “hold the job open or I don’t get paid.” The client closes the job … and gives Arj “one star” to boot. It’s funny when I give one star to a film. If you have enough money to make a film, you certainly have enough money NOT to make a film. In the gig economy, ratings are a currency of their own. Delivering a one-star review can be your way of adding to the homeless problem in SoCal.
Speaking of which, Arj lives in his car. When it gets towed for ticket abuse, there’s another homeless person. This happens when Arj and Jeff (Seth Rogen) have a falling out. Jeff is an El Lay gazillionaire who owes his wealth to a few timely investments and, let’s face it, Good Fortune. The difference between the skill set of Jeff and the skill set of Arj is nothing. And yet, Jeff is the one pulling all the strings while Arj is homeless. Initially impressed by Arj, Jeff hires him as a Man Friday, which works up to the point that Arj takes a Jeff recommendation on dating venue, can’t pay the enormous ($300) bill, and is summarily fired by a man who buys $250k watches on a whim.
Wait a minute; is owning a drawer full of expensive watches a thing? I’ve seen this now a half-dozen times to represent El Lay opulence. But do people actually do this?
We have our players, Jeff and Arj. Now we need the divine. Enter Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) a very low-level guardian angel. His job is to protect people who text and drive from getting into car accidents. It’s shitty work, but VERY IMPORTANT, especially in Southern California. Keanu Reeves is
hilariously sedate in this role, btw. I think he makes the film. Despite his low energy approach to angelic work, Gabriel is ambitious; he wants to rise above his station. Sure, who wouldn’t? To do this, however, he needs to turn a lost soul. He is technically not allowed to intervene on such a level; Gabriel is like an angelic intern. If he were on the Anaheim Angels, he’d be a batboy, and now he’s taking the mound to solve Arj.
Good Fortune was thankfully light on divinity and God chat. I find literally nothing more boring on film than prayer. No, the film isn’t going to give the answer to the afterlife, but it will get some laughs. I found the film, especially the conclusion, far too pie-in-the-sky to take seriously, BUT that shouldn’t detract from how enjoyable the film is when not preaching at me (in its own way). Aziz Ansari has some excellent observations about human nature and a very good handle on how difficult this current generation has it comparatively. There is something sublime, perfect, and almost a pure form of horror when Gabriel shows Arj his future upgrades. “I get a job at Amazon!” (Arj happy) … and then, in the vision a co-worker tosses Arj an empty: “Here’s your pee bottle.” (Arj not-so-happy) For certain people, even college educated ones, this is their lives.
I’m not going to call Good Fortune a great film, but perhaps Good Enough Fortune is a more apt title.
There was once a hapless loser named Arj
Whose life sucked ass, by-and-large
Then his angel did appear
Telling Arj not to fear
For one day, he’ll have bills he can’t charge
Rated R, 97 Minutes
Director: Aziz Ansari
Writer: Aziz Ansari
Genre: Horror?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: The kind of person who needs movies to tell them what to do
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Billionaires
