Ariana Grande sang that, “Whoever said money can't solve your problems must not have had enough money to solve 'em.” The world is increasingly becoming a place of the haves and have-nots. The rich keep getting richer, and the poor keep getting poorer. No amount of rolled-up sleeves and picking yourself up by the bootstraps can solve that inequity. That is, unless an angel comes down from heaven and allows you to switch lives with a rich person. Then you’d be able to leave behind the hustle and grind of your old, painful life and live out your days as someone who can literally do whatever they want and never ponder how much it costs.

This is the central concept of Good Fortune, comedian/actor Aziz Ansari’s feature debut as both screenwriter and director. It will literally take an act of divine intervention to get his character, Arj, off the metaphorical hamster wheel that he’s been on ever since he joined the gig economy. He drives up and down Los Angeles, delivering food through the Foodster app, dealing with equally frustrated restaurant staff and ungrateful customers who never leave a tip. His car is also his home, and the local gym locker room is his bathroom.

Arj enters into a It’s a Wonderful Life kind of deal with the angel Gabriel (Keanu Reeves) when he realizes that he has nothing left to live for. Gabriel is the guardian angel for texting and driving, offering people that sixth sense to alert them when they’re swerving out of their lane or a pedestrian is about to cross in front of them. It’s not showy work, especially when the other angels brag about all the adventures they’ve been on, inspiring mortals to see the error of their ways and cherish life. Seeing Arj as an opportunity to better both of their situations, Gabriel decides to teach him a lesson by showing him that money doesn’t buy happiness. So he switches Arj’s life with that of Jeff’s (Seth Rogen), a private equity tech billionaire who got his “humble” beginnings from a multi-million dollar investment by his parents.

Contrary to George Bailey, Arj sees absolutely no downside to his new life. He never wants to go back, which is kind of a problem since he has to consent to that for this experiment to end. And who could blame him? Ansari gets a lot of laughs out of exposing the fallacy of the long-held beliefs that the poor only have themselves to blame and that it's selfish to think materialistically. Jeff was rich because he was born into it, and, despite all his bragging, there’s nothing he can do to rise back up to that level.

The central trio all display their comedic chops, with Ansari really leaning on the Reeves’ memeified energy at every turn. His happy-go-lucky demeanor is the highest it's ever been, and his delivery has never been this stilted, something that the later John Wick movies embraced for all its campy glory. He discovers hamburgers and chicken nuggets for the first time, eventually working down to cigarettes and marijuana.

For all its humor, none of this rings as insightful. Every talking point has been exhausted, and every experience has been felt. There’s a divide between this film strictly being a goofy comedy and a moralistic lesson on appreciating what you have. Everything resolves itself almost offensively too easily, not reflecting the trickiness of the situation it sets up. Keke Palmer plays Elena, who's trying to organize a union at the big-box hardware store she works at. Her role is to deliver speeches to Arj about seeing the silver lining to the struggle, as that’s what gives people their identity.

But if I had to choose between my comedy not having a substantive narrative or not being funny, I’d definitely choose the former. I’d like not to have to choose, but such is the situation with Good Fortune. It’s ninety-eight minutes long, has plenty of jokes, and displays enough confidence from Ansari as a writer/director that I’m eagerly anticipating what he does next. For that, I’ll say a quick prayer of thanks.