“Lucky” movie review; What a wonderful life!

The film “Good Fortune” is Aziz Ansari’s version of “It’s a Wonderful Life” (It’s a Wonderful Life), which Keanu Reeves takes to the top on his little wings. Although Ansari’s writing, neither as a comedian nor now in his first experience as a director, never touches the heart, but his idea of ​​placing Keanu Reeves in the role of a clumsy angel is almost surprising. In the review of the movie “Lucky”, I focus more on the importance of the presence of Reeves’ comedy, which makes the message of the end of the story bearable.

Warning! There is a risk of revealing the story in the review of “Lucky”.

“Lucky” movie review; When the places of rich and poor change

For years, comedy films have been sucking up the idea of ​​swapping people’s places. But Aziz Ansari gave it a new twist and seeks to make a statement about the class difference in the comic sense of the story. In Lucky, which he also directed, wrote and produced, Ansari plays one of three main characters: Arj, an unemployed documentarian struggling to survive in Los Angeles; He works multiple jobs, but still sleeps in his car and can’t pay his back fines. At one of his many jobs, Arj meets Elena (Kiki Palmer), who wants to form a union at their hardware store. The two fall in love quickly.

Arj finally gets a job as an assistant to a tech entrepreneur, Jeff, who falls in love with Seth Rogen, who comes from Apple TV’s “The Studio” and plays the role of a sunken multi-billion dollar corporate boss. Although Arj is now in a better situation than ever, he still does not see a light of hope at the end of the tunnel of his life; Running every day and in the end nothing and nothing so that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.

In one of these moments of despair, an angel suddenly arrives to save Arj alone. This angel is Gabriel (Keanu Reeves); One of the low-ranking angels whose only task is to warn people who send messages on their mobile phones while driving. But Gabriel’s colleagues often have more serious tasks and thus their wings are bigger. So when Jibreel sees someone like Araj at the peak of despair, he suddenly appears in front of him to show himself and stop Araj from committing suicide. But before Arj’s deal can be sealed, Gabriel swaps places with his wealthy boss, Jeff, to learn that money doesn’t bring happiness.

“Lucky” just picks up from here; By changing the rich and the poor, it shows not only to Arj, but also to Gabriel that money may not bring happiness, but it makes it much easier to bear misfortunes. Therefore, it is not surprising that Araj refuses to return to his former life. He even goes on a date with Elena and with more money, he has more confidence to attract the girl’s attention; Even if Elena doesn’t fall in love because of money.

Unfortunately, the love of the characters of Kiki Palmer and Aziz Ansari did not come out of the water, and their relationship in the film is drier than a piece of cardboard. Unlike usual, Palmer put aside her charms and sweets in “Lucky” and became an everyday girl whose heart the protagonist wants to win. A character that any other actor could replace. Just this year, with a pure social comedy, “One of Them Days”, Kiki Palmer talked about the economic difficulties and the running of the middle class; A very funny film that focused on Palmer’s innate sense of humor, but also incorporated social criticism into the film’s jokes without becoming clichéd. This interweaving of humor and criticism is what is missing in Aziz Ansari’s writing in “Lucky”.

Ansari’s script then has more time to focus on the better duo of Reeves and Rogen, who form the comedic heart of the film. While Arj is having fun with Jeff’s money in the background, Jeff is running for a few dollars and Gabriel has his own misfortunes.

After Gabriel’s unauthorized intervention in Arj’s life, the angel in charge, Martha (Sandra Oh), takes Gabriel’s little wings and he now has to live like a human on earth for the first time; It means that for the first time he is hungry and thirsty and he has to earn money to meet his needs; A work that turns out to be more difficult than it seems; A work that even Jeff, who claims to have achieved his enormous wealth through sheer individual capabilities, remains in. Jeff tries different jobs and realizes how little his company pays its employees. Because of his friendship with Gabriel, who is now in a restaurant with salty dishes, he has sympathy and a common language, which makes the difficulties of having no money a little more bearable.

With this idea, Ansari enters the valley of clichés and moral sermons; Sermons such as that even if there is no money, as long as there is friendship and love, it is enough; That the rich should use the privileges they have for the benefit of the public. Obviously, these are not deep or new interpretations, and they lead to exaggerated advice for the characters. Fortunately, the humor and sincerity of Reeves and Rogen’s characters lessens the intensity of these screenplay problems.

Finally, in order to get his wings back, Gabriel must collect the dirt he raised; The requirement of this work is to satisfy Araj so that he can return to his past life with heart’s content and hope for this new life. What Araj learns from all his adventures is that running cannot bring him money; But small goals and humble but honest life with the ones he loves are not as meaningless as he thought.

Keanu Reeves’ return to the world of comedy

Aziz Ansari wants to return to simple and intimate comedies in the style of old Hollywood and criticize contemporary America with “Lucky”. But this simple humor would not have been possible without the wonderful cast of the film. Among the Seth Rogens and Kiki Palmers, who are comedy giants in their own right, the performance of Keanu Reeves stands out in the film, who plays himself as always; But there is wisdom in choosing a role that uses Reeves’ inherent qualities effectively, and Ansari may not have comedic intelligence, but the fact that he was able to finally bring Reeves back to the world of comedy is a great intelligence.

It’s been five years since the last time we saw Keanu Reeves in a straight-laced comedy, the long-awaited sequel to Bill & Ted, Bill & Ted Face the Music. After a long period of Reeves’ presence in the world of “John Wick” as an action hero, he finally has the opportunity to use his comedy abilities in “Lucky”.

Reeves brings a sense of childlike wonder and curiosity to the story’s simple-minded angel, mixed with her usual sweet and dreamy performance. Gabriel enjoys simple things; Like eating nuggets, dogs, making money and at the same time he is enjoying how little money he is making compared to the effort he is making. Even though these won’t make you laugh out loud, they bring to life an innocent sincerity and a special affection in your heart that only comes from Reeves. With these things, you can’t help but love Gabriel Reeves; Even when under the pressure of being human, he turns to cigarettes and alcohol.

With the character of Arj, Ansari has succeeded in portraying a large group of people who are struggling to earn money in today’s chaotic economy. People who are not lazy or indolent; They just had no luck. It is not difficult to sympathize with someone like Araj, and if Ansari was satisfied with this, he would have delivered his message. But no. In the end, he wants to teach a moral lesson with slogan dialogues and pulls down this simple and sweet story “Lucky”. Suddenly, pleasant and funny jokes give way to Elena and Araj’s speeches about economic problems.

Ansari had a good initial idea for “Lucky”; An idea that is very relevant for us today. But in the end, he did not know how to collect it. The times when “Lucky” is about human connection, about friendships, empathy and the support people can give each other, is where the film shines. But Ansari’s messages about the unequal distribution of wealth, systematic injustice and that money cannot bring happiness are very popular; Especially when you hear these messages from someone who is ready to go to Saudi Arabia for stand-up comedy! But the honesty of the tone and the fantasy comedy that Reeves brings to the story give small wings to Ansari’s film, which raise it above the sky of clichés and make “Lucky” a simple and intimate film.

Film ID “Lucky” (Good Fortune)

Director: Dear Ansari
Author: Dear Ansari
Actors: Aziz Ansari, Keanu Reeves, Seth Rogen, Kiki Palmer
Product: 2025, United States
Site score IMDb to the movie: 6.7 out of 10
Rating of the movie on Rotten Tomatoes website: 77%
Summary of the story: Araj is an unemployed documentarian who works in several places; But for all his running, he still sleeps in his car. One day he gets lucky and Arj gets a job as an assistant to one of the rich entrepreneurs in the field of technology. Even though his condition is getting a little better, Araj is still disappointed with his life; Until one day the lowly angel replaces him with his rich boss to show that money is not everything. But this move might prove more things to Araj and his friends…

The review of the movie “Lucky” is the author’s personal opinion and is not necessarily the position of Digikala Mag.

Source: Digikala Mag