The first of many gifts Gore Verbinski’s latest film, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, gives you is that within the first three minutes, you’ll have an idea if it’s for you or not. From frame one, the film shoots you out of a cannon, explaining everything you need to know about the movie in rapid-fire fashion. Sam Rockwell plays an unnamed, and possibly unhinged, time traveler who bursts into a Norm’s Restaurant looking for people to save the world from a killer AI. He comes at them with a wild and awkward energy, the same energy the rest of the film will have, and then some. So if you’re with it, get ready for a ride. If you aren’t, well, it’s gonna be a long night. Good luck, have fun, etc.
Several characters, such as ones played by Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, and Juno Temple, take Rockwell at his word and tag along. They, like us, have many questions. Is this for real? What is the plan? Can the movie actually deliver on those promises? Answers to several of those questions come rather quickly, and by the end, while the film pretty much delivers on everything it promises in that cold open, it’s not quite the smoothest of trips to get there. But there is never a moment in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die where you are disinterested. Maybe some things are more fun and exciting than others, but at every single moment, you can’t take your eyes off it, wondering what’s coming next.
That happens through a slightly unexpected structure. Verbinski, working from a script by Matthew Robinson, basically splits the film in half. One section moves things forward with Rockwell and the crew in the present, and the second fills in gaps with flashbacks, giving context to the modern world and supporting characters. Some of these scenes, like the one involving Temple’s character, are delicious and shocking. Others, like the one with Richardson, are a little less so.
But all the scenes are clever and disturbing. With each revelation in Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, we see a bit of our modern world. A school where kids can’t get off their cellphones. A relationship ruined by video games. A grieving mother is given an impossible choice. The scenes are all exaggerated but to almost the perfect degree, where you go, “This is way too over the top, but also, oddly possible in the next two years.”
That, in turn, gives the movie a very vital feeling throughout. It’s propulsive, it’s action-packed, but it’s saying something too. However, it doesn’t always do those things in equal measure. The issue becomes, as crucial as the flashbacks are, the scenes also hold the film back a bit. From that very first scene on, we’re so interested in where this is all heading; anytime things move off that main track, it kills the momentum. You can’t have one without the other, but Verbinski never quite strikes the balance.
Thankfully, as the puzzle slowly starts to come together and we see the threads weaving into place, that largely goes out the window. Eventually, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die just rips the band-aid off and strives for the absurd. The audacious. Logic and reality go out the window. Sometimes, it’s explained. Other times, it’s not. And at times, I found myself a little hung up on what the rules were of this world. Are there any? The film never quite makes it clear. And still, there’s an inherent enjoyment in that unpredictability, especially since the cast does its best to keep it believable.
As one might expect, Sam Rockwell is excellent throughout. Is he largely playing the character he kind of plays in every single movie? Yes. Do we love those characters and have no problem with them? Also yes. And while Temple, Beetz, and Peña all showcase their considerable talents, Richardson is the standout. The White Lotus and Ponies star has arguably the least wild of the backstories, but her character choices end up not just resonating with depth and emotion but also tying the whole film together.
And there’s a lot of film to tie together. At its heart, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is also a love letter to science fiction. There’s a lot of Terminator in this, some Groundhog Day, and a few hints of Ghostbusters, Men in Black, They Live, and more. It’s a real cornucopia of reverence. And, if you like that kind of thing, it adds a bit of shine to the movie.
Three minutes into Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, I knew I was in. I love weird sci-fi. I love worldbuilding. I love time travel, and I love films that feel like evolutionary steps in something. This is all those things and more. It kept me guessing, kept me smiling, and made me want to watch it again immediately after. Part of that is because not everything in the movie makes sense, and another viewing might firm those things up. But another part is that this world is so ripe for exploration, I just liked spending time there. It’s almost perfectly imperfect, just like its weird title.
Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is now in theaters.
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