by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer
There’s a general feeling in the air that we might be in the worst timeline. With the frequent government coverups and AI being pushed on us in our daily lives faster than people anticipated, it’s hard not to be concerned. The sci-fi movies of old that warned of a dystopian surveillance state run by emotionless robots feel more like documentaries now. If there was ever the need for a time-traveler to come back and fix things, it feels like right about now would be great. In Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, Gore Verbinski gives us his spin on this weird sci-fi nightmare in which we all seem to be trapped.
In what appears to be the present, Sam Rockwell, playing a purposely nameless character, appears in a diner looking like a cyberpunk hobo. He tries to warn the occupants about a near-future apocalypse caused by social media rotting their brains and A.I. taking over their lives. Of course, most people are too wrapped up in their miserable lives to really care about the world ending right in front of them. Unable to move the sleeping masses, the man from the future threatens to blow himself up, and take everyone with him, unless enough of the patrons join him on his mission to save the world. Assembling (or taking hostage, depending on how you want to look at it) a crew of seemingly random diner patrons, including a mysterious yet unassuming mom (Juno Temple), a duo of traumatized high school teachers (Michael Peña and Zazie Beetz), and a depressed woman in a princess costume (Hailey Lu Richardson); Rockwell takes them on a dizzying journey to save the future.
This film is a science-fiction kitchen sink. There are shades of The Terminator, Robocop, Back to the Future, and several other 80’s sci-fi movies that aren’t coming to me. Most of the time, though, it’s closest comparison is a Black Mirror episode. The plot has a nonlinear structure, similar to last year’s Weapons, often leaping back and forth between past and present, giving us pieces of the character’s backstory as the main plot unfolds. All of these flashbacks are essentially separate short stories in themselves. While all of them are entertaining, the range of tones it juggles gives you emotional whiplash, as the flashbacks range from comedic to tragic to horrific. It makes the movie feel pretty long as we keep interrupting the momentum of the central story to do something completely different every 20 minutes. There are no scenes that I would say are outright bad or unnecessary, but there are multiple times when a monologue or a joke just goes on for way too long. I can only assume there is absolutely nothing left on the cutting-room floor. It’s cool to see what seems to be an uncompromised vision, but this is just overstuffed with ideas.
In spite of some of these issues, Verbinski comes from an era of filmmaking where even the worst films at least looked good. His talent for blockbuster directing really shines through. Thanks to his visual style, you’re never bored, even if there are a few scenes that drag on a bit. Every shot is dynamic and exciting.
The ragtag ensemble cast is what really makes this movie work. Rockwell continues to quietly be one of Hollywood’s best and underrated actors. His performance is reminiscent of a mix between an old-school Kurt Russell and Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka. He perfectly embodies the movie’s schizophrenic tone, able to be both funny and sad throughout. Richardson really shows off her star potential, as her character is the emotional lynchpin of the story. Meanwhile, Peña and Beetz make for a surprisingly fun comedic couple, though given how talented they both are, they feel a little underutilized compared to Rockwell and Richardson. Overall, this is just a stellar ensemble. Everybody, down to the characters who only get one scene really shine.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is hilarious, sad, scary, inspiring, and most of all fun. A kind of fun that, quite frankly, has been missing in theaters for a long time. It’s also a lot… With all the topics we cover here, the film sometimes feels like a way-too-long Facebook post written by a boomer. But unfortunately, all you have to do is look outside to see he’s right. The portrait this movie paints of our present day is incredibly cynical, but it doesn’t feel mean-spirited for its own sake; it’s just true. It captures this weird limbo we’re living in; A present that feels like the future, somehow always a step ahead of us. Lengthy and unwieldy as this is, it’s still worth your attention. We’re not offered any solutions to today’s problems, but at the very least, it shows how our humanity shines through even in the face of the most ridiculous situations and seemingly impossible odds.
Rating: Liked It
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is currently in theaters.
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