Originally published to FOX5 Vegas on Oct. 15, 2025.

An outright comedy in the year 2025 is a rare beast. Sure, there are action comedies, sci-fi comedies, but a comedy comedy? That’s nearly extinct. Good Fortune takes a swing at the genre, bringing together actor/director/writer/producer/possibly-gaffer Aziz Ansari, national treasure Keanu Reeves, and Seth Rogen as the three-headed comedic Cerberus meant to bring genuine laughs back to the cinema. So… did they succeed? Well, it’s complicated.

Keanu Reeves Shines

First, the good: Keanu.

He is as lovable as we have known him to be as angel Gabriel. Undoubtedly, the high point of the movie, Reeves channels a bit of Theodore “Ted” Logan into the role, bringing a funny and adorably awkward character to the mix. Gabriel, intent on helping Ansari’s Arj to find meaning in his life but constantly tripping over his own celestial good intentions, is buoyed by Reeves’ earnest performance.

But it mostly ends there.

Ansari and Rogen don’t step outside of their comfort zone at all. Ansari is essentially playing his Parks and Recreation character, Tom Haverford, for 97 minutes, while Rogen, well, plays Rogen. That’s either a good thing or a dealbreaker. The audience at my screening howled; your mileage may vary.

Where the Fortune Runs Out

Where Good Fortune truly falters is in the story. Essentially a rip on the gig economy and the struggles of modern Americans, it delivers its message with all the subtlety of a LinkedIn post written by a millionaire about “hustle culture.”

The plot is a series of left turns that never really find their way back to the center. By the end of its runtime, “Good Fortune” attempts to bring everything together in a satisfying conclusion but fails to find a meaningful ending, instead becoming preachy rather than poignant.

I was reminded of 2023’s Dumb Money, a film that, at the time, I found disappointing. Its saccharine enthusiasm about the struggles of everyday Americans amid the COVID-19 pandemic was just too close in time to those real-life events. So, too, in Good Fortune, do the filmmakers seem to be pantomiming people’s experiences. You can’t shake the sense that none of these guys has ever driven an Uber, or even opened the app.

Out of Luck

Ultimately, Good Fortune never commits to irreverence or insight. It relies on cadence over content. It’s funny people saying funny things in funny voices. The result isn’t a disaster, but it’s not much of a resurrection either. It’s a comedy that grazes the funny bone, misses the heart, and completely sidesteps the nerve.