Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die

Directed by Gore Verbinski, Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die follows a man from the future (Sam Rockwell) as he and a group of diner patrons, including Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid, Michael Peña’s Mark, and Juno Temple’s Susan, attempt to save the planet. Filmmaker Verbinski, armed with a script by Matthew Robinson, delivers an erratic and wildly overlong endeavor that benefits from its performances and increasingly engrossing narrative, as, in terms of the former, Rockwell offers up entertainingly oddball work that goes a long way towards smoothing over the picture’s various bumps and lulls – with the actor’s first-class turn certainly matched by his affable costars. And while the picture’s opening stretch is immediately engaging and attention-grabbing, Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die progresses into a hit-and-miss midsection that is, far more often than not, almost intolerably quirky and off-the-wall – with this particularly true of certain less-than-subtle flashbacks that feel like rejected Black Mirror episodes. It’s clear, then, that Good Luck Have Fun Don’t Die improves considerably once it focuses on the protagonists’ world-saving quest and their climactic confrontation with an unexpected opponent, while the completely satisfying closing few minutes ensures that the whole thing ends on a palpably positive note – with the final result an entertaining sci-fi comedy that could (and should) have been seriously streamlined.

*** out of ****