"I used to be a celestial being and now I'm a chain smoker."
Toronto International Film Festival
Ansari, as a struggling gig worker trying to make ends meet, offers a solid portrait of the contemporary everyman made hopeless by our current state of income inequality. In contrast, Rogen's highly privileged corporate funder lives a glamorous life on easy street with little thought to how his largely unearned wealth hurts people he otherwise sympathizes with. Putting Reeves in between them, as the deadpan but wildly comical dummy low-level angel trying his best to help others but actually making things worse, only heightens his funny performance, doubling as socioeconomic commentary, all the more dryly comical.
The other two supporting roles, played by Keke Palmer and Sandra Oh, are no slouches either. Both add subtle dimensions to portraits of common people and the mechanics of angels helping save lives on Earth. How Ansari captures the simultaneous hopeful spirit of Los Angeles through its downtrodden characters paints an effective portrait of the human experience. While it's ultimately a breezy, good-looking film, the underlying material mocking runaway capitalism is frequently laugh-out-loud hilarious.
Ansari's light touch in telling an efficient story filled with jokes and character turns makes everything fit nicely into its high-concept comedy package. Good Fortune's satire is almost perfectly pointed despite a complete lack of subtlety. While it offers few answers to solving the wealth gap, the film shows off L.A.'s community spirit, many taco trucks, and the pure joy of making genuine human connections.
Good Fortune premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Gala Presentations program.
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