I’m not that big on New Year’s Resolutions. I’m of the belief that, if you want to make a change in life, you just do it; no need to wait for a specific time to start. But I’m totally okay with making goals when a new year arrives. One of my goals for this new year is to finally catch up with backlog of stuff I didn’t get to watch last year. There have been so many movies that I just wasn’t able to get to see last year for one reason or another.

One of my biggest regrets when it comes to not seeing a particular movie would be Good Fortune. Just based on the trailer, I just saw how interesting the premise was and I wanted to see how everything would work out. But one thing led to another and it passed me by. So, I bit the bullet and actually went out to rent it on YouTube. I got to watch Good Fortune over the weekend and, even though it’s very late, I’m putting out a review for it.

Now, although Good Fortune was indeed released last year, I’m still going to make this a SPOILER FREE review. I checked its box office record and it didn’t do too hot. I’m guessing there were a lot of people who were like me who didn’t get to see it when it was in theaters. So, yeah, SPOILER FREE review incoming!

Good Fortune see Gabriel, an angel who’s only real task is to save people from getting into accidents when they text while driving. He wants to do more, however. So, when he sees Arj, a man struggling just to keep afloat, he decides to take matter into his own hands. He switches Arj’s life with Jeff’s, a rich guy who doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. He does this in the hopes that Arj will think that being rich won’t solve all of his problems. The problem is, it does appear to solve at least most of his problems.

Like I said, I really love the premise as it pretty much takes the It’s A Wonderful Life scenario and turns it on its head. I do love how they also add to the premise by adding Gabriel and Jeff from just being passive observers and actually a part of the story. This isn’t only Arj’s journey. It’s also Gabriel and Jeff’s as they also need to learn a lesson or two as well.

It certainly helps that the three main actors who play the trio, Keanu Reeves as Gabriel, Aziz Anzari are Arj and Seth Rogen as Jeff, have good chemistry together and fit their roles perfectly! Keanu Reeves is pitch perfect to play the rather naive angel who doesn’t know better. He’s basically playing Ted “Teodore” Logan from his Bill and Ted franchise days. And I’m not complaining because it works! Aziz Anzari, who also directed Good Fortune, is great as the initially hapless Arj. He comes off as charming and confident but still nice… for the most part. He plays both the beaten down person and excitable eccentric rich douche well. Seth Rogen also works as his version of “rich douche” isn’t all that bad but more clueless. So, you still feel bad for him when he gets Arj’s original life.

I also do have to give commendation to Keke Palmer, Arj’s love interest. I do kind of wish she was given something funny to do as she does play it straight throughout the film’s brisk 97-minute runtime. However, I can’t complain about her acting performance. She comes off as extremely likable and charming and that’s enough for me to root for Arj to be with her in the end.

The overall plot of Good Fortune actually can be split into three parts. Not a traditional three-act structure, per se. Rather, as the story unfolds, it’s almost as if the main character changes between Arj, Jeff and Gabriel. This shouldn’t really work as, normally, it would get confusing. But, somehow, with the way everything transitions to and from each other, I didn’t mind! That’s mainly because, as I said, each actor is delivering a really fantastic performance that fits the character. So, I actually have a fun time watching what happens with each and every one of them.

I do have to comment about how funny this movie is as it’s a comedy and… it’s just okay. There really isn’t a gut busting moment where I uproariously laughed. However, there are definitely a good number of chuckle worthy scenes and gags here and there. By the end, though, while I thought it wasn’t all that funny, I can’t deny how good the movie made me feel. It just gave me a good feeling deep inside of me because, all throughout, I was engaged with what would happen to this trio and how things would resolve itself.

I do kind of wish the ending was a little better. I understand why they took this direction as it’s the safe way to end it. However, it does come of to me like they lost the fantastic edginess of the entire film’s tone. Then again, I really don’t know what else they can do to give a more satisfying ending. I’m generally okay with how Good Fortune closed out. I just wished there was a better way to do it.

All-in-all, I do recommend Good Fortune. While I can’t say it was hilarious, it’s one of those movies that I feel has a good heart. Keanu Reeves, Aziz Anzari and Seth Rogen are tremendous in their roles and the story does have a feel-good theme to it despite there being a whole lot of helplessness going on. I’m sad I missed it at the theaters but I’m incredibly glad I got to see it now.

Have you seen Good Fortune? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!