Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die
Sam Rockwall stars in GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON'T DIE. (Photo: Briarcliff Entertainment)
“You’re in for a rough night,” explains a time traveler on a mission to save the world in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, a warning that fortunately doesn’t apply to moviegoers.
All three components of that goofy title will resonate for those on the same offbeat wavelength as this ambitious science-fiction satire that’s both amusing and provocative as it juggles tones and provides a defiant rebuke to technological overreach.
This high-concept genre hybrid from director Gore Verbinski (The Ring) works better as a quirky comedy than an edgy thriller, deserving credit for its big ideas, even if they don’t all come together at the end.
The film sets an appropriate tone at the outset with an epic rant that’s both recklessly unhinged and deliriously captivating. An unnamed Man from the Future (Sam Rockwell) storms into a Hollywood diner, apparently with a bomb taped inside of a makeshift survival suit, and barks out conspiracy theories about artificial intelligence, social-media addiction, and Gen Z ambivalence that has figuratively turned humanity into desensitized robot-zombies.
He also claims that he’s performed this same stunt more than 100 times but has yet to succeed in his ultimate mission — recruiting a handful of strangers to help him defeat a nebulous enemy trapped in AI and virtual reality.
Somehow, he’s convincing about the urgency of it all, and soon enough, we’re thrust into the backstories of some of the sidekicks, including a costumed loner (Haley Lu Richardson), a distraught mother (Juno Temple), and two teachers (Michael Pena and Zazie Beetz). Together, their scrappy determination keeps the journey on track.
Verbinski maintains a lively pace within the freewheeling structure, and Rockwell finds earnest sincerity beneath the silliness perpetuated by his paranoid post-apocalyptic tour guide.
The episodic and nonlinear screenplay by Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying) offers a clever and irreverent mix of sight gags, one-liners and random non sequiturs. However, it becomes too convoluted in the second half, and the final act relies on effects-driven mayhem.
Some of the subtext in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is also intentionally discomforting — even triggering for those who take it too seriously. Instead, it’s best to suspend your disbelief, ignore the logical gaps within its existential mythology, open your mind, and just enjoy the ride.
Rated R, 134 minutes.