Courtney Howard // Film Critic
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE
Not Yet Rated, 1 hour and 40 minutes
Directed by: Gore Verbinksi
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Juno Temple, Asim Chaudhry
With GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE, director Gore Verbinski and screenwriter Matthew Robinson desperately attempt to channel their understandably angry frustrations over society’s blasé response to school shootings and over-reliance on corruptive AI technology into a funny, frank sci-fi film. They also give the people what they want, showcasing Sam Rockwell chomping on a fat cigar as if he’s George Peppard on the A-TEAM and muttering an INDIANA JONES-influenced line. However, their punk-rock middle finger comes across as flippant, leading to an abrasive action-comedy that yields few laughs and even fewer disarming thrills, in addition to its problems finding the precise outlandish tone for their serious sentiments to resonate. Even worse, it continually undermines its stellar ensemble’s ability to generate any sense of character from their characters.
The tale at hand is told in chaptered vignettes strung together by a wraparound story of a Man From the Future (Sam Rockwell), as he’s named, holding a Los Angeles Norm’s full of patrons hostage until he can assemble the right combination of strangers that will help him on a mission to save the world from its imminent apocalypse. He needs to introduce a virus into an AI program at a precise moment to end its creation before the rogue software takes hold of humanity. He’s been GROUNDHOG DAY-ing (yes, the Bill Murray-starrer is used as a verb) himself until he assembles his squad – and this might just be the night he pulls off his quest. Maybe.
While the cops descend on the diner and the gang figures out an exit solution, the narrative cuts to and from the escalating hijinks, rewinding time to what’s led each of the characters to their connected path. Well, most of them. Uber driver Scott (Asim Chaudhry) doesn’t get a backstory segment. His inclusion is primarily for the purpose of an incredibly predictable joke at the end. Shaken, soft-spoken Susan (Juno Temple) is having a tough time re-adjusting to her life after her son was murdered in a school shooting. Tech-allergic Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson) – looking like a bedraggled Alice in Wonderland – has recently lost her job and boyfriend due to tech’s prominence. High school teachers Mark (Michael Peña) and Janet (Zazie Beetz) have noticed students turning into zombies, scrolling on their smartphones, and fellow teachers missing.
While Verbinski and cinematographer James Whitaker deliver sleek visuals (minus one ugly Volume-set sequence in the snow), Robinson’s story is scattered, playing as a disjointed mish-mash of undercooked ideas that might’ve fared better if developed as separate BLACK MIRROR episodes. The filmmakers’ satirical sentiments come out glib rather than sincere or sinister due to a tonal imbalance, poor character construction and lackluster reveals. It proves difficult for them to both condemn the institutions that allow dangerous tools like AI and firearms to flourish and celebrate the surreal nature of it all. Verbinski and Robinson fail to develop their world-building in an interesting way, from the teens’ goofy zombie walk (which lacks any imposing intensity) to the deadpan parents who’ve commodified their cloned kids. There’s also a sequence in the 3rd act that lifts directly from THE MATRIX, except it covers its similar bald character in processed cheese puff dust. The dinosaur-sized minotaur with a thousand kitten heads that barf glitter is an added distraction.
Whether it be the diner basement or the secret, electronic lair of the AI god, sequences languish in locations for far too long with few interesting actions happening. Characters are denied fully fleshed out arcs, rendering them all disappointingly moot by film’s end. When the talented ensemble does infuse personality, vibrancy or vulnerability into their role, the material hobbles their performances. Rockwell certainly amps up a small handful of comedic moments, as Richardson delves into the dramatically layered complexities dwindling underneath her character’s angst-riddled façade. With the exception of The Man from the Future and Ingrid, the others’ motivations set up in Act 1 fade and disappear by the climax. Plus, there’s a tertiary pair of assassins in knit pig ski masks whose story goes nowhere whenever they’re allotted any screen time.
The filmmakers offer few reasons why we should ever feel invested in this journey. We never come to care about any of these chosen misfits. There’s little rootable interest offered beyond the rudimentary basics of not wanting to see the world end. Forcing our empathy drives to work overtime to see this mission through to the tricky climax winds up being a big ask. Rarely does the material connect with its audience. Any salient, stinging commentary that manifests during the individual vignettes morphs into techno-babble junk by the entirely predictable finale.
What a dispiriting adventure this ends up being as Verbinski’s decade-long-hiatus-ending welcome back party. The woozily demented game show-like chant of the title that appears in the closing minutes is a far more fascinating concept than the film itself. Not dark enough to disturb, not cleverly comedic enough to cut deep, it’s forgettable fodder in a time where we could use memorable provocation.
Grade: 2 out of 5
GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE played Beyond Fest at American Cinematheque on September 28. It opens in theaters on January 30, 2026.
