Running Time: 134 minutes
This feature film from Briarcliff Entertainment opens exclusively in theaters on February 13th.
Director Gore Verbinski made a name for himself with the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy and Rango, the Oscar-winning animated film. But in recent years, he appears to have moved his productions abroad. Almost a decade ago, he delivered the surreal, eerie and gorgeously shot A Cure for Wellness, which was set in a sanatorium and mixed psychological trauma with classic monster movie elements. It wasn’t for everyone, but this reviewer found it engaging, unique (compared to other pictures of the time period) and a lot of fun to watch.
His latest film is Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, a science-fiction effort that would play well on a double-bill with his previous title. It’s filled to the brim with wildly creative and surreal imagery and a story that you wouldn’t find in a Hollywood production. In fact, the movie is overflowing with ideas, so much so that it may be overwhelming at first. But the exaggerated approach suits the story and message, and the final result is memorable.
The story is set in America just a few years in the future, where all humanity is glued to their cell phones, barely looking up and acknowledging others around them. Violence is also prevalent, with deadly school shootings barely registering with the populace. The world is beginning to enter a dark period, but no one appears to be noticing. One night, a group of patrons in a Los Angeles diner, including teachers Mark (Michael Peña) and Janet (Zazie Beets), a traumatized parent (Juno Temple), a mysterious teen (Haley Lu Richardson), and several others have their meal interrupted by a strange, disheveled man (Sam Rockwell).
The crazed figure delivers an incredible speech, stating that he is from the future. Artificial intelligence has taken over the world, but he and his cohorts have discovered how to travel back and forth in time. Humanity needs to slow down AI technology in order to have some control over their futures. To do so, this man from the future requires a group of individuals to help accomplish his goal by taking part in a dangerous mission. Unfortunately, the previous 116 attempts have failed horribly, forcing him to press a red button on his person, travel back to the future, and then try again by starting another timeline.
What follows is a darkly comic chase as a ragtag group of patrons are hastily assembled and try to accomplish a seemingly impossible goal. The narrative then jumps around, filling in chilling details about the lives of some of the patrons. While the events are exaggerated and many details presented in a grimly humorous fashion, they feel like things that could occur in the coming years. In the process, the story subtly manages to make points about the state of the country, AI, gun violence, and our addiction to technology.
While there is a lot going on story-wise, lead Rockwell is extremely entertaining and grounds the story. A lot of the humor is derived from the manic figure’s many explanations to the confused group why a particular idea won’t work as intended and only lead them to a painful death. He is also very averse to taking along one individual, resulting in a dramatic reveal late in the film.
The photography is gorgeous, from the diner and various locations, to the increasingly odd figures and beings the group encounters. And the action is also very well-shot and edited. The creator of the AI sends numerous, increasingly odd and eccentric forms out to hunt down the group, resulting in a climax offering original visions that this reviewer can’t recall having seen in a movie before.
As with any time-travel feature, one must allow for some creative license. This is a fast-paced feature filled with so many ideas that any of the character’s individual stories could be enough to sustain its own film. Additionally, the finale ends up taking place at such a surreal and over-the-top locale that this reviewer missed out on how exactly it came to be. Truth be told, it’s best just to go along for the ride and just let the craziness wash over you.
As mentioned in previous reviews, the early months of the year often see the release of movies that either don’t work as intended, or are eccentric and may not be to all tastes. The second scenario isn’t necessarily bad, and sometimes an oddball effort is special and worthwhile. Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is not a sequel, but an original film overflowing with imagination, as well as deeper ideas about problems concerning the future and artificial intelligence. It’s a distinctive effort that isn’t easily forgotten, and like Verbinski’s previous feature, should at the very least become a cult item.
