15 years ago Gore Verbinski won the Best Animated Feature Academy Award for “Rango”. Verbinski is also well known for the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” installments and horror flick “The Ring”. During his video introduction at the screening I attended of his latest film, “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die”, he stressed the importance of original movies — and having them play in theaters: “If you show up, I’ll keep trying.”
I hope people show up to “Good Luck”. The screenplay is by Matthew Robinson, and it’s one of the gutsiest in recent memory, filled with great commentary. Robinson also took plenty of chances with his scripts for “The Invention of Lying”, “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” and the underrated “Love and Monsters” — but none quite like this.
As “The Man from the Future”, Sam Rockwell opens the film by storming into a diner and delivering a monologue about the harm of technology (including A.I. and cellphones) on society. He makes a number of bold statements, setting the tone for what’s to follow: an unapologetic saga filled with surprises.
I don’t want to give away too much more — from the storytelling structure to the character development and depth — because I hardly knew anything going in, and that’s the best way to experience “Good Luck”. All I’ll say is that “The Man” (one of my favorite roles of Rockwell’s career) recruits a group of people to help him save the world. Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid is one of them — a young woman with a unique allergy. Richardson is fantastic. Ingrid’s arc is very strong.
Not every moment in “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” is a home run, but the journey is definitely worth investing in, and if you stick with it, you’ll feel satisfied right to the end. It’s not going to please everyone, but honestly, these days what movie does? I applaud Verbinski, Robinson and the rest of the team for making something intelligent, timely and truly different.
LCJ GRADE: B+
Running Time: 134 min.