I was looking forward to Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die. It is from Gore Verbinski, who’s had solid movies like the first Pirates of the Caribbean, Mousehunt, and A Cure for Wellness. I’m even going to say his American remake of The Ring was solid, not a patch on the original, but good.
His newest movie, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, stars Sam Rockwell, Juno Temple, Haley Lu Richardson, Michael Pena, Zazie Beetz, Tom Taylor and Asim Chaudhry.
The Story
All I knew about the story was from the trailer:
A “Man From the Future” arrives at a diner in Los Angeles where he must recruit the precise combination of disgruntled patrons to join him on a one-night quest to save the world from the terminal threat of a rogue artificial intelligence.
We open in a downtown LA diner, and a ‘man from the future’ (Rockwell) turns up and tells everyone he’s there to save humanity. At first, no one is impressed, but he has strapped a bomb to himself and will blow it up, unless people listen!
His mission is to deliver a USB to an AI device before it goes live. Without the USB, the AI goes rogue and destroys most of humankind in the future.
He picks a team of ‘willing’ volunteers to help him. It turns out, this isn’t his first rodeo; he’s been here before, and he knows everyone. This time, he has to pick the right group to finish his mission.
This is the first 10 minutes of Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die. The story tells the story of some of the diners and how they ended up in the diner. It also tells how the ‘man from the future’ knows what he knows.
The story is great, really engaging and has some great themes about AI and the use of our phones. That’s all I’m going to spoil.
The Cast
I don’t know about you, but seeing Rockwell is always a good sign. From ‘Wild Bill’ in The Green Mile to Guy in Galaxy Quest to Sam Bell in Moon. He’s got an amazing range, a good sense of comic timing, and just seems like a cool guy.
In Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die, his ‘man from the future’ is Rockwell dialled up to 11. He was so engaging, and you just had to follow him on his journey. If I were in the diner, I would have gone, no matter what.
The rest of the cast are good, Pena and Beetz play a couple, and there is a section about who they are and how they got there. I will say, I find Beetz to be a great actress and rather easy on the eye.
Lu Richardson is new to me, but she really reminded me of Florence Pugh.
My own complaint is Chaudry; there’s nothing wrong with him, but I think he was overlooked in Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die. He’s a funny guy and a good British comic, and the character he plays is an American, and his accent is weird. Secondly, he’s just not given much to do.
The Direction
As I said, I’m a fan of Verbinski, and his direction in this is spot on! He has wonderfully set up shots and seems to take the time to not just tell a story but give you something beautiful to look at.
The direction reminded me of a young Spielberg, back when he gave a damn. I still say it, but Spielberg hasn’t made a good summer blockbuster since 1993. His movies like Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. are all gorgeous movies to look at, with great stories as well.
Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die is the same; the photography is beautiful in places, and the story keeps you watching. I haven’t seen anything like this for a long time, not new anyway.
It’s also got a very interesting story that deals with a lot of subjects, and it doesn’t shy away from a bit of controversy. We all know that AI isn’t going away, but what if it gets to a point where it does kill us all?
Are kids transfixed to their phones? Could a clever enough AI use it to brainwash our children? Some of the places it goes to are dark, really dark. I felt bad for laughing in some places, but I got over it.
Overall
Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. It’s funny, it’s exciting, and it’s a really good story. It is a very dark comedy, as I said, in place, really dark. I want to spoil it, but I won’t.
It felt like a mix of Groundhog Day and 12 Monkeys. In fact, some of the production design was very Terry Gilliam; I could see Gilliam directing this. However, Verbinski does a great job.
As I said, this was one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a while. The first two acts are very cool, the third act goes utterly batshit crazy. I will never look at snow again in the same way…you’ll get that joke when you see it.
I’m guessing that Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die will be in my top five of this year. I will definitely be watching it again when it’s on streaming. It’s a full 5 stars from me, that’s by today’s standards, not 5 gold stars.
Good Look, Have Fun, Don’t Die is in UK cinemas and VoD in the US.
