In ‘Good Fortune,’ It”s Aziz Ansari vs. The Gig Economy – ryan

Photo: Eddy Chen/LionSgate

Every Few Years, Aziz Ansari Learns About A New Sociological Phenomenon and Funnels Into His Work. In the mid 2010s, his fascination with modern dating trends Informed Large Chunks of His stand-up materialHis Book Modern Romance: An Investigation, and season one of Master of none. HIS interest in aging fed into the closing joke of his 2017 special Live at Madison Square Gardenand would have been the inspiration for his 2022 Directorial Film, Being Mortal, if the film had not ben scrapped follow Harassment Complaints Against Star Bill Murray on Set. Following that fiasco, ensemble Begin Work on Directing a new Feature inspired by the Sociological Muse. Good fortunewhich premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, is all about the gig economy.

Ansari Plays Arj, A Struggling Documentary Editor in La Who Makes by Working Part-Time at A Hardware Store and A Taskrabbit-Style Company Called “Task Sergeant,” Where His Task Can FROM Waiting in Line for People Cinnamon Buns to Organization garages. IT’S GRUELING AND DEMEANING WORK WHICH Leaves arj subject to the whims of unforgiving clients who stiff Him on payment for things are out of his control (The Cinnamon Buns Out Before His Turn in Line.)

One of the People Whos Arj off the app is Jeff, a rich and stereotypical tech bro, played by set rogen. Jeff ha Has a gigantic house in the hills, a garage full of luxury cates he doesn’t know how to drive, and his sauna and COLD plunge and ritualistically, Despite confessing he has “no idea” if it offers any benefits. Arj Spends a Short Stint Working As Jeff’s Assistant, but he’s fired for an Honest Mistake. This kicks off a series of events that ends with his car – which he’d been living out of Because and Afford an apartment – Getting Towed.

That’s wen gabriel, played by Keanu Reeves, Decides to Intevene. Gabriel is a Guardian Angel Who Works in the “Texting and Driving” Department of Divine Intervention. (Asked at one point how his work is going, he deadpans that it is not going great: “People really love it.”) He’s been keping an eye on arj syrad a concertning Text arj wriving giving up on his life. Gabriel aspires for more fulfilling work, and against the orers of his boss (a higher-rancing angel played by sandra Oh), takes it upon himself to save arj’s lost by showing that HIS LIFE HAS ECONOMIC HARDESHIP. Gabriel swaps arj and jeff’s circumstances to show Him that Money Alone won’t solve all his problems. The unurrprisis twist: it instantly solves most of his problem, and arj has no immediate desire to switch back.

This Puts Jeff and Gabriel, Who is Demoted to Being a Human Being by His Boss for Going Against Her Orders, in a Difficult Spot. While arj is off living the good life, the pair now have to scrape together Enough Money to survive, and the movie again hammers home the injustices of the gig. Jeff Begins Working As a Driver on a Food Delivery App, and he soon learns what it is like to be in line for exorbitant periods of time, get one -star reviiews from unreasonable customers, complete with robot delivery, and loose covorky on the world. Like arj, they quickly end up sleeeping out of a car.

ASIDE REPETITION, ASSARY FINDS LAUGHS IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES. He plays up the excesses of arj’s new Life; In One Skene, arj eats at a sushi restaurant where the fold is flow in every day and his dining Companion (Matt Rogers) Brags About the Restaurant’s “Very High Carbon Footprint.” He mines tragicomedy out of jeff and gabriel’s financial circumstances – in one scene, Gabriel encouages ​​Jeff to “Focus on Some Positives” About Sleeping in Their Car. But the movie is at it it is best to focused on these well-trod ideas and more on Gabriel adjusting to his new life as a human being. Reeves, Far and Away the Movie’s MVP, Plays Gabriel with Pitch-Perfect Golden Retriever Innocence, and He Squeezes Every bit of Comedy Out of the Scenes Gabriel eats a hamburger for the first, surfs the Internet of Baby Elephants, and Unknowingly Takes. Psychedelic mushrooms.

Eventually, Howver, Event Gabriel’s Innocence is Beaten Down by His Life of Destination. He gets a job as a dishwasher, copes with the stress of it by indulging in vices, and laments his fall from grace. “I used to be a celestial being, now i’m a chain smoker,” he complains at one point. When Gabriel Gets His First Paycheck, he’s mortal to see the Tax and Social Security Deductions. Its Not Enough Money to live on, he realizes. He’s shocked to learn that his co-workker, felipe, works three jobs at the make-end Make Meet. Spread the point Ansari is Making is that this shouldnt Be shocking to People, Rather than an Accepted Part of Life in Modern America. That’s Well-Intentioned Enough, but you don’t exactly Need to be a scholar of the Gig Economy for it to resonate.