The hilarious movie “Good Fortune,” starring Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, and KeKe Palmer, is a comedy with a deeper message about people struggling to make ends meet. The movie has the theme of swapping places with another person, as in the 1988 movie “Vice Versa.” Remember the 11-year-old Fred Savage, who swaps places with his dad, a business executive. Here, the wealthy Seth Rogen and the struggling factory worker Aziz switch places, and, typically, all business, Keanu Reeves is his comical ‘Budget Guardian Angel.’
As most know, pure comedy movies are less common in Hollywood, and they rarely have a wide theatrical release. I can say that it was great to actually hear laughter in the theater! I truly miss that experience with an audience. During my screening, the laughter was nonstop and grew louder as the movie progressed. And to my surprise, a few people actually were clapping. The talk afterwards was all about Keanu as we know him mainly from his serious killing movies, John Wick.
The winner here is definitely Aziz Ansari, as he serves as writer, director, and actor. He plays Arj, a down-on-his-luck factory worker who is homeless and sleeps in a car. We see him taking his daily showers at the local gym, though he’s not showering because he just worked out; he genuinely needs to maintain healthy hygiene. The film shows us how difficult it is not to have money, and in this case, the James Baldwin quote “Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor,” is very close to the truth of the downward spiral effect.
Also, I’m a huge fan of comedy and Seth Rogen, whom I met a few years ago while on vacation in LA When I met him, he asked if he could sit down awhile and speak with me, as he was on a break from filming “Platonic” with Rose Byrne. I asked him about his road trip movie with Barbara Streisand that was released on December 19, 2012, titled “The Guilt Trip.” I said, My brother is a huge Barbara Streisand fan and thanked him for making the movie. I also said, “That must have been an interesting trip.” He replied, “Ohhh yes indeed.”
Sarah Knight Adamson© October 25, 2025