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Good Fortune (2025)

 The set up of the film sees Arj who is trying to make a living but life seems to be screwing him at every opportunity, Keanu Reeves is Gabriel who is an angel that saves people from crashing their car whilst they are driving and texting and Seth Roger is Jeff who is a rich boy who spends his time mainly shopping and hanging around his pool when Gabriel decides to try and show Arj that his life is worth living and swaps his life with Jeff’s but things do go to plan and soon all three of. The message of the film is that money doesnt make you happy but other people make you happy.


This was a film that I was a little unsure was going to be my sort of thing as comedies have tended to be a tad disappointing (I’m looking at you The Naked Gun!!!). However I found myself liking this film very much. Firstly Aziz Ansari’s Arj is a likeable character although he did approach being unlikeable when he pretended to have lost his memory so that he wouldn’t have to go back to his old life. Thankfully he just about gets away with it and Arj’s relationship with Elena was quite nice as Keke Palmer manages to make Elena strong but not too strong and independent to come across as obnoxious. Seth Rogan can be extremely irritating and despite being a rich boy with more money than sense I didn’t find myself hating Jeff. How much of that is down to the writing and how much is down to Roger is debatable. Keanu Reeves came very close at several points from stealing the movie. Gabriel just wants big wings and is trying to do something good to get them but ends up causing a huge mess that forces him to re-evaluate himself and I didn’t have Keanu Reeves playing someone that is obsessed with Chicken Nuggets, Taco’s and chain smoking on my 2025 bingo card. 


If I had one gripe with the film and it wasn't one I was expecting and that is I could have done with it being a little bit longer. Not a huge amount but 10 minutes maybe. I would have liked a goodbye scene between the three of them. Instead what we get is Jeff insisting that they ditch robots and AI, Arj getting his life together with Elena and Gabriel seemingly getting his wings back as a taco is folding suggesting that the movement was his. It’s not the worst issue that I have had with a film in 2025 but it's the only one that I could really come up with. Perhaps they could have spent less time hammering the idea that people who collect peoples orders dont have the best life and used that time for the happy ending.


Good Fortune isn’t the best film of the year or even the funniest but it is a charming film. Most times the word charming is used in a negative way but not for me. I think that films that are charming often stick with me longer than a lot of other films. The writing was good, the performances were good and it does make you appreciate the idea that there is someone always worse off than yourself. It has a feel good message without coming across too preachy and that is a tough needle to thread. Good stuff.    



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