Lamar Reviews - "Good Fortune" (Airdate 10/24/2025)

The last few weeks I’ve watched the trailer for
Good Fortune multiple times. The movie is written
and directed by Aziz Ansari, who also stars in it
along with Keanu Reeves, and Seth Rogen. Aziz
Ansari was really believable as Arj, a down on his
luck guy who is giving it his best shot, but life is
beating him like a rented mule. He’s trying to do
odd jobs on an app called “Tasker” that gives him
every possible odd job you can think of. Food
delivery, place holder in long restaurant lines, and
every once in a while, working part time at a big
box store. Still, he has to live in his car.
On the opposite end of that scale is Jeff, a rich
venture capitalist tech bro, played very nicely by
Seth Rogen. I am not a big Seth Rogen fan, I
know how that sounds, and I apologize. I
recognize he very talented, and the majority of
people find him hilarious, and I get it. For me, he
comes across like he doesn’t bathe as often as he
should. And he for sure doesn’t spend any time
attempting to groom himself. He is very funny in
this movie, playing a character that probably

should be hated, but comes across as a really
good guy, who is clueless about any lifestyle other
than his.
But make no mistake, the hammer that is hitting all
the nails in this movie is Keanu Reeves, as the
angel Gabriel whose job is to stop people from
texting and driving right before they have a car
wreck. Gabriel feels he should be doing more
important work, like saving lost souls.
When Arj’s luck changes for a minute and he
lands a job as Jeff’s assistant, things look up, until
he loses the job. He then becomes hopeless and
gives up on life. Gabriel decides to show him that
Jeff’s magical life is not what he thinks it is. To
demonstrate to Arj that money won’t solve all of
his problems, so he switches their lives. Now Jeff
is a food delivery guy living in his car, and Arj is a
multimillionaire living a life he could only dream of.
Gabriel’s plan is, when Arj learns his lesson, he
will want to switch back. The only problem is that
Jeff’s money has solved all of Arj’s problems, he’s
happy, and he ain’t switching back.

The movie is a quick 1 hour and 37 minutes,
Rated-R for language and some drug use.
There are some other notable stars, Keke Palmer
as Elena, Arj’s love interest, Sandra Oh as
Martha, Gabriel’s Supervising Angel, to name a
couple.
Every person involved in this film did a great job,
and their contributions helped make the movie a
success, but Keanu Reeves toted the load. If he is
not in the scene, you miss him and can’t wait till
he gets back.
People have the tendency when thinking about
Keanu Reeves to remember the Matrix, and John
Wick, and for good reasons. But you have to also
remember he was Ted, in Bill & Ted’s Excellent
Adventure. He appears to be a loveable goof, but
if you look a little deeper his comedy comes from
his empathy. Weather Reeves is playing a Killer or
a Clown, he’s always great doing it.
My Score is, the movie is a solid 4 Buds, and
Keanu Reeves performance is 5 Frosty ones.