Good Fortune, comedian Aziz Ansari’s feature directorial debut, is struggling at the box office. There are a lot of factors to blame: The generic title doesn’t in any way sell the fantasy film’s weirdness or whimsy. The script is preachy and often too on-the-nose about its themes. The performances are all weirdly flat and presentational, as if the actors were reading directly from scripts held just in front of their noses. And it comes at an anxious moment of extreme economic inequity that may make potential viewers even less tolerant than usual of a movie that essentially says, “Sure, rich people have all the advantages and all the fun — but poor people have heart!”

