A guardian angel (literally!), Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), watches over careless drivers who text while driving in a traffic heavy Los Angeles. For an unexplainable reason, he focuses on Arj (writer/director/star Aziz Ansari), a gig worker who struggles to make ends meet and still lives in his car. When Gabriel decides to show Arj just how lame his life would be if he was to swap places with a wealthy entrepreneur, Jeff (Seth Rogan), realites are switched, and identities as well.
"Good Fortune" tries hard to be a modern day "It's a Wonderful Life"; in addition, there are also shades of 2000's "Family Man," where a valuable what-if scenario is meant to reshape the protagonist's view of their own life. Yet despite its good intentions, the screenplay never quite ventures into true comedy - or heart-felt drama - in ways that are deeper than a typical network TV dramedy.
Ansari is a funny actor capable of great wit, but as a filmmaker, he struggles to keep the characters memorable; not even the great Kiki Palmer's Elena amounts to more than a one-note woman, whose desire to start a union at the home improvement superstore she works at is met with repeated obstacles. Her plight would've made for a much better movie; if only Ansari had been aware.
☆☆
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