“Good Fortune,” written, directed by, and starring Aziz Ansari, is a grounded comedy about the weighty dice of fate. The antidote to bottomless malcontent and despair, it contends, is the friends we make along the way.
With ‘Good’ one half of its title, it certainly is that—but it falls short of achieving the staying-power greatness of earlier “Goods” like Brian Robbins’ “Good Burger” or the Safdie Brothers’ “Good Time.”
Keanu Reeves’ texting-and-driving savior angel ironically veers out of his celestial lane to assist Ansari’s struggling taskmaster in flipping the tables on his billionaire boss (Seth Rogen). Hijinks—if you can believe it—subsequently ensue.
The journey is worth the squeeze, though the ending feels more buttery-soft than climactic. Regardless, even with its box-office performance bludgeoned, it succeeds simply by proving that a studio comedy with theatrical intentions can still take chances in 2025.
Speaking of studios taking swings, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere” centers on the Boss’ deliberately commercial-repelling passion project—the dark, folk-haunted “Nebraska.” The film doesn’t gloss over the pain or exhaustion that plagued Bruce long before E Street. And if that really is Jeremy Allen White’s pipes, what a triumph.
In all, it’s more of an inverted “A Complete Unknown” than “Bohemian Rhapsody.” You leave knowing and understanding the rocker a bit more—the inspirations behind his greatest hits and the struggles endured to make sure there’d be even more. It’s classified great, not grand, since the timeline inherently omits Stevie Van Zandt—who was still a few years out from returning to the fold.
By the re-appropriated book of Silvio, every time Little Stevie thought he was out, they pulled him back in.
Our grand finale: “Game 7 of the 2025 World Series.” Co-directed by bitter rivals Dave Roberts and John Schneider, this intense set fostered an all-time popcorn-fodder classic—bar none, the best baseball film released since 2011’s “Moneyball.”
Fronted for a second straight October by beyond-“The Babe” beast Shohei Ohtani, it’s actually his Japanese compatriot Yoshinobu Yamamoto who steals the show this go-around with an Oscar-worthy leading performance.
Unlike “The Departed,” no one took a pay cut to play in this ensemble.
“Fortune” and “Nowhere” continue in theaters. “Game 7” was a one-night-only enterprise—unless you don’t mind heading in with the twist already unearthed.
“50 First Dates” may have spoiled “The Sixth Sense” for this young moviegoer, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it—occasional jealousy of 10-Second Tom notwithstanding.