Written and directed by Aziz Ansari, this is probably one of the most well-written and cleverly crafted comedies of 2025. Good Fortune is a comedy that is a delight because Ansari knows how to capture reality and fairness from a realistic perspective of how life seems for many individuals. He creates a dynamic of people with interesting lives (including himself), and he adds an angel to make things better. Well…that angel tries. But overall, the concept of the comedy is just genius. I have seen Ansari three times on stage doing stand-up comedy, and I will say his craft as a comedy writer seamlessly crosses over to movies. Good Fortune is a breakout of wonders for sure.

Aziz Ansari plays Arj, and he is a struggling delivery driver in California. He is desperately struggling to make ends meet. Around him, there is an angel named Gabriel, played by Keanu Reevers. Gabriel is an angel assigned to keep people alive by basically making them alert by not texting and driving.  He basically keeps humans alive by preventing them from getting into serious injuries due to obliviousness. Gabriel wants a change as well though. Gabriel’s boss is Martha, played by Sandra Oh. Gabriel wants to make people’s lives better, but his options are limited. Things begin to come around when Arj earns the opportunity to work for a wealthy venture capitalist named Jeff. Jeff is played by Seth Rogen. Once Arj begins to work for Jeff, his life starts to see some light.

There is a twist to this comedy and this is where the entertaining genius lies.  Arj convinces Gabriel to make it possible for him to swap lives with Jeff. This means that Jeff ends up being the one struggling financially, while Arj is rich and wealthy. At the same time, Gabriel is an angel who is trying to navigate the reality of what makes actual humans happy, because he himself is not (technically) a human. A film of moving parts where the rich live for fun, and those who hustle must truly hustle. Ansari creates the dynamics of fairness presented as daring.

The film leads to a path of envy and jealousy becoming the theme. That is seen more by the Angel character of Reeves. Moreover, there is the impression that some have a lavish life and may not deserve it. The creative style of Ansari’s directing is how it creates equality—the portrait that no one is perfect—no matter how rich, poor, or successful. Anyone can have flaws. The “flaws” in Good Fortune have witty misdirection making this one of the best comedies I have ever seen.

The classiness of Good Fortune is in the fact that it makes audiences look at reality. It makes us ask the question, “Are we are truly happy with our lives?”. Would many be happier if they were just rich all the time? Or would some rather just continue to hustle? How many would want to swap their life for another? Despite the good that comes out of rotated lives, the hurdles of change are presented with a reality that has plateaus that are unavoidable. Ansari’s writing has tangents that are spellbinding in that aspect, especially with Reeves as angel navigating making people’s lives better. There is no clear end in sight for Good Fortune. The light of happiness is in the writing, and the funniness is fueled by competitions to get lifestyles back. Four out of four stars for Good Fortune.