Good Fortune

Arj (Aziz Ansari, who also wrote and directed) is a lost soul. As luck, or fate, or whatever cosmic force would have it, Gabriel (Keanu Reeves), is a guardian angel who’s looking for just that. In an odd way, the human and the angel seem to be kindred souls, looking for each other’s wisdom and unique insight into the world, even if it doesn’t come easily to either of them. Arj is struggling… with everything. Financially, romantically, you name it, he’s struggling. He’s living out of his car as he works a number of jobs and gigs that don’t pay him for his time. Gabriel is a guardian angel assigned to the “texting and driving” beat, which isn’t exactly fulfilling.

When Arj is fired by his boss, Jeff (Seth Rogen), he’s at his lowest point, just when the intervention by heavenly forces will be most meaningful and impactful. But Gabriel’s insight doesn’t help Arj see the value in his life. In a sneak peek of what his future holds, yes, things do get better. But his life still sucks. So, in a classic case of the ol’ switcheroo, Gabriel allows Arj to live the life of his rich ex-boss Jeff, just to show him how empty a life of luxury and comfort can be. Except, as Gabriel explains to his own bosses at the pearly gates, it turns out that pretty much every problem that Arj had with his life could be solved if he just had more money.

Nothing goes the way it’s supposed to go. Arj doesn’t see the emptiness in the hollow pursuit of money; on the contrary, he loves Jeff’s life and will do everything he can to hold onto it forever and never let it go. Gabriel is demoted several times for his unauthorized interference in human affairs and winds up a human, broke, and addicted to cigarettes. Jeff, who believes he can simply pull himself up by his bootstraps and be rich, once again, finds himself struggling with a number of temporary gig-work jobs that absolutely kill his soul and pay so little he winds up in the negative, with all the gas he spent going from one place to another.

Good Fortune is Aziz Ansari’s long-delayed feature-film directorial debut, after another film project fell through due to accusations of on-set impropriety from one of the stars, writer’s strikes, and even an accusation of Ansari’s own impropriety re-tooled his Netflix series Master of None. For all that, I’m glad Ansari didn’t rebound with some overly-serious or overly-experimental slog about the tortured soul of the genius artist. Instead, it’s a light, easy-to-digest narrative that plays out like Frank Capra meets Judd Apatow. It’s just the right amount of preachy, raunchy and social commentary. 

Is the film perfect? Not even close. But in its best moments, it makes up for its shortcomings. Keke Palmer’s role is wasted on the periphery of the story, and though she weaves in and out through both of Arj’s identities, her entire storyline could be cut out, and I doubt anyone would notice. Her job is to reinforce points already made by the storylines of Ansari, Rogen, and Reeves, and she often feels like a redundancy or a studio-mandated need to have a romantic interest.

Gripes aside, Good Fortune delivers on what it sets out to deliver, which is a socially-conscious comedy that shines a light on our human condition and exposes not only the unaddressed ugliness in our society, but the beauty in it. Life sucks when you’re broke. And it’s expensive. While poor people get nickel-and-dimed for every aspect of their existence, rich people get luxurious meals they can easily afford on the house. And while it’s normal–hell, acceptable–to get mad about it, there are simple moments everyone loves, regardless of money. So, the next time you go out dancing or eat a taco, leave one out for Gabriel, the angel who oversees texting and driving.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
Good Fortune descends from the heavens on Blu-ray in a single-disc release, housed in a standard case with a removable slipcover. Both the case and the slip contain identical cover artwork, with Ansari, Rogen, and Reeves standing atop alternate-existence mirror images of themselves. Inside, buyers can find a slip containing a code that can be used for digital redemption.

Good Fortune is presented in 1080p high definition, from a 4.6K digital source format. The film was shot digitally using the Ari Alexa 35, with Zeiss Master Prime lenses by cinematographer Adam Newport-Berra, who knows his way around both film and digital photography, having shot Splitsville on 35mm. Overall, Good Fortune is very pleasing to the eye, making great use of both color and lighting, skewing toward the warmer end of the spectrum. Skin tones look healthy and vibrant, while dynamic lighting and shadows look varied and complex. Newport-Berra is particularly adept at shooting nighttime sequences, which are appropriately moody and have a deep contrast that can often be lacking on a digitally shot source.

At first, I rolled my eyes when I saw that Good Fortune came equipped with a Dolby Atmos sound mix. So often, a movie that isn’t, say, The Matrix, doesn’t get a lot out of a Dolby Atmos mix. So often, a 5.1 mix will do just fine–and not only is the Atmos name dropped as sheer overkill, it’s lackluster. I was amazed by how immersive Good Fortune was and how expertly it utilized the technology. Height channels were used sparingly, but the most ingenious element of the sound design was in its spatial realization. Subtle atmospherics took on a whole new dimension, and the way Carter Burwell’s score was spread out among the soundstage was incredibly clever. Great work all around.

Good Fortune is backed by some fun supplements, including an audio commentary and a few featurettes, including one that explores the film’s fantastical and not-so-fantastical vision of Los Angeles.

• Audio Commentary - With writer/director Aziz Ansari, and producer Alan Yang
• The Fantasy of Reality (HD 14:37) - The making of Good Fortune
• The Los Angeles of Good Fortune (HD 12:24)
• The Clothes Make the Man… and the Angel (HD 6:15)
• Trailer

Good Fortune is a good, slight comedy that plays with just the right amount of lightness and darkness. Its story, at first, is relentlessly grim–yes, we know that life is kind of awful right now–but when it embraces its magical elements, it follows its own twisted logic through one turn after another. Most importantly, it’s laugh-out-loud funny, and never forgets that, even at its preachiest. Its Blu-ray release looks great, has a wild Dolby Atmos track, and boasts a few neat supplemental features. Good Fortune is Highly Recommended.