Aziz Ansari as Arj and Keanu Reeves as Gabriel in Good Fortune. Photo Credit: Eddy Chen.
New York’s cinema crowd has always loved a story about grace under pressure. On an autumn night at AMC Lincoln Square, Lionsgate hosted the special screening of Good Fortune—Aziz Ansari’s first outing as writer-director. The evening brought together Keanu Reeves, Sandra Oh, and a film that dares to turn comedy into a moral fable.
The film arrives in a season hungry for optimism yet wary of sentimentality. Good Fortune threads both instincts. Reeves plays Gabriel, a well-meaning but fallible angel who decides to teach humanity a lesson in empathy by swapping the lives of two men: Arj (Ansari), a struggling gig worker, and Jeff (Seth Rogen), a venture capitalist who thinks success is virtue. Predictably, the experiment unravels. The swap exposes the fragility of privilege and the ache of want, leaving even heaven’s messenger bewildered. Sandra Oh appears as Martha, the celestial supervisor charged with restoring order, while Keke Palmer brings heart and humor to the ensemble.
Introducing the screening, Ansari called the project “a fable about empathy disguised as a comedy.” He spoke briefly, half-playful and wholly sincere. The audience— industry peers, friends, invited guests—leaned in. In a culture often numbed by irony, the notion that luck might be shared felt unexpectedly urgent.
Earlier that week, influencer MD Motivator had surprised a New York restaurant chef named Clara, nominated by her daughter for a moment of recognition. She received a $10,000 check, an invitation to the screening, and a photograph with Ansari, Oh, and Reeves—a gesture that echoed the film’s message: fortune matters only when it’s shared.
When the lights dimmed, laughter started quickly. Reeves’s Gabriel is equal parts philosopher and fall guy, his stillness turning every stumble into poetry. Ansari, juggling lead performance and direction, keeps the rhythm nimble— jokes land, but so do questions. Oh provides the film’s pulse, her warmth balanced by willpower, while Rogen plays contrition with surprising delicacy.
After the credits, guests crossed Columbus Circle to Ascent Lounge for a private reception hosted by Lionsgate. The glass-ringed space mirrored the film’s mixture of reflection and brightness: conversation looping from filmmaking to faith, from social satire to simple gratitude.
Critics at the Toronto International Film Festival had already called Good Fortune “a gentle comic fable” (San Francisco Chronicle) and praised its blend of wit and moral weight. The Wrap noted that Reeves delivers one of his most unexpectedly tender turns, while Reuters reported Ansari’s debt to mid-century comedies like Sullivan’s Travels and My Man Godfrey, inspirations for what he calls a return to “moral storytelling for an audience fluent in irony.”
By the night’s end, the title felt less like a promise than a reflection. Good Fortune isn’t about wealth or divine rescue—it’s about perspective, the way empathy can turn an ordinary evening into revelation. Ansari’s debut converts personal reinvention into shared hope; Reeves trades myth for vulnerability; Oh reminds us that grace can command a room more powerfully than grandeur.
For Félix, the film captures what culture needs most: proof that success and kindness are not opposing forces. Beneath the laughter lies a simple creed—that luck, shared freely, becomes grace.
(Left) Top: Aziz Ansari as Arj and Keke Palmer as Elena in Good Fortune. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate. Bottom: Keanu Reeves as Gabriel, Seth Rogen as Jeff, and Aziz Ansari as Arj n Good Fortune. Photo Credit: Eddy Chen.
Keanu Reeves as Gabriel and Sandra Oh as Martha in Good Fortune. Photo Credit: Eddy Chen.
Apple TV / Lionsgate official press materials for Good Fortune (October 2025). Entertainment Weekly, “Keanu Reeves Recalls Brutal Knee Injury on Good Fortune Set,” Apr 11 2024. Reuters, “Aziz Ansari Looks to Old Classics to Highlight Wealth Disparities in Good Fortune,” Sept 7 2025. San Francisco Chronicle, “Good Fortune Review: Keanu Reeves and Aziz Ansari in a Comic Fable with Heart,” Sept 15 2025. The Wrap, “Ansari and Reeves Find Grace in Absurdity,” Sept 20 2025. The Playlist, “New Trailer: Good Fortune by Aziz Ansari with Keanu Reeves and Seth Rogen,” Sept 22 2025.
Creative Credits
- Written by
- Clara Voss
- Photography
- Eddy Chen
- Creative Credit
- Lionsgate
