'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die': Sam Rockwell Tries to Save the World in Anti-AI Adventure Comedy

PHOTO: Briarcliff Entertainment

These days, it seems like AI is everywhere you look. Whether it is being used to summarize Google searches, create images, or as a sounding board for ideas, it has become seemingly inescapable over the past few years. Some have fully embraced AI, while others strongly oppose it due to the consequences that can come from widespread use. From the opening scene of Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, it is abundantly clear that director Gore Verbinski and screenwriter Matthew Robinson are firmly in the latter camp. Using elements of satire and science-fiction, the two rail against the rise of AI and smartphone usage, providing a quirky, sometimes cheeky adventure that acts as both a fun, mostly solid fusion of genres and a strong condemnation of AI and its effect on the world. 

An unnamed man (Sam Rockwell) enters a Los Angeles diner claiming he is from the future and that the right combination of people to help him save the world from an evil AI. After some convincing, he manages to recruit a group of unlikely heroes that includes a pair of school teachers (Zazie Beetz and Michael Peña), a grieving mother (Juno Temple), and a mysterious girl in a disheveled dress (Haley Lu Richardson). As the team goes on their quest, we learn more about them and how AI is already affecting their lives for the worse. Each of them has good reason to join the unnamed man on his quest, and move forward to face strange and uncertain danger, despite some reluctance.

As someone who is anti-AI and generally likes Gore Verbinski as a filmmaker, I was very much looking forward to this one. After all, he’s been in director’s jail for about a decade following a pair of box office bombs, so I was glad to see him back in the director’s chair. It is clear that Verbinski is passionate about the messaging of the film, as there is an underlying anger to the film, despite its frequently humorous nature. He and Matthew Robinson have clearly been seeing what’s been going on in the world and they are furious. Verbinski is a very unique filmmaker, and he always brings a bit of weirdness to his work. I wondered if this would change since he is older and might be aiming to be more conventional in order to get back in Hollywood’s good graces. But Verbinski still brings the weirdness here, and the film is all the better for it. It’s good to know that Verbinski still has the goods and is able to work on a smaller scale after making some massive blockbusters. 

Verbinski tends to have great instincts as a director, which often yield strong visuals and great setpieces. That is certainly the case here, as he stretches the film’s budget to pull off some of the film’s spectacle. There are two major setpieces that I particularly liked, one being a huge showdown between our heroes and a horde of teens, and the other being the final confrontation with the film’s villain. However, there is one trademark of his work that is sadly present and that is his tendency to go long. While I like the films of his I’ve seen, Verbinski is a director that could benefit from trimming some of the fat off his work. This is maybe my biggest issue with the film, as it kept me from being as into it as I could have been. There’s plenty about this film that is interesting and there are great ideas and statements I agree with here, but it goes on about 10-15 minutes too long for my liking.

I also felt that the film struggles with its tone, with its dark sense of humor coming across hit-or-miss. It finds a decent balance at times, but it can be a bit glib when it comes to its satirical elements. It can sometimes feel like Diet Black Mirror, but with a sillier energy. This is most apparent in the stretch that focuses on Juno Temple’s Susan, as it even modifies the premise of a Black Mirror episode. I prefer the parts of the film where it leans more into the absurd, as it better captures the uncanny nature of AI and its dystopic potential than the moments that feel more direct with its commentary. I don’t want to put the blame solely on screenwriter Matthew Robinson, as Verbinski is partially responsible as well, but it feels that he may be a touch out of depth in certain moments. Robinson and Verbinski are both good when it comes to spectacle and genre storytelling, but they falter a little when it comes to social commentary. That said, the main points they’re trying to make with AI still come across loud and clear, which is what’s most important overall. 

Before I even knew that this was a Gore Verbinski movie, I was drawn to see this due to Sam Rockwell’s involvement. Rockwell has long been an actor I've admired, but I’ve been pretty underwhelmed with his output the past several years. Save for his voice work in The Bad Guys and his appearance on season three of The White Lotus, there’s not really been a performance of his that has really jumped out at me. That is, until his turn in Good Luck, Don’t Die, which feels like a return to form. Rockwell is undeniably the funniest presence in this film, as the role allows him to play to his comedic strengths. From the opening scene, which is largely an extended monologue, I was fully on board with his character. This is absolutely my favorite performance I’ve seen from him in a long time, and it is one of the film’s biggest strengths. 

The supporting cast is pretty solid, although they get a bit overshadowed by Rockwell. Michael Peña and Zazie Beetz are both good, but they are pretty underused compared to the rest of the core cast. This is mainly due to their storyline not having as much emotional depth as the other primary plot points so their stuff doesn’t stand out as much. They still do a good job, but I couldn’t help but wish they had more to do. Juno Temple is given perhaps the most challenging role in the film as Susan, a grieving mother. She certainly has the most emotional weight to shoulder, and she handles it beautifully. Her American accent did seem a little off in places, but she does such a great job overall that I can’t complain too much. Haley Lu Richardson plays a more guarded character, but has perhaps the most interesting development out of everyone. She has a mysteriousness to her for much of the film, but once we learn more about her and see her walls come down, the performance comes more into focus. It does leave a bit to be desired, but Richardson still manages to get the job done.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die has a strong, extremely timely message and offers up some good, weird entertainment in the process. It has some tonal issues and easily could have been a bit shorter, but I still had a great time with it. It makes a great case against AI, particularly in how it is destroying the social fabric of our world. It may not be the most serious or nuanced commentary, but it still gets its points across effectively and honestly might reach more people through its approach. I can see this film hitting with a lot of people, as it fuses different genres together well and is so relevant to the present. At the very least, I’m glad that this film got Gore Verbinski out of director’s jail, and that it is as fun and bold as it is.

Rating: 3.5/5