Saw that Sam Rockwell (and Juno Temple and Michael Pena) were in “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die!” now streaming on Hulu (directed by Gore Verbinski) and we took it in.
I agree with whomever complained that the third act sort of ruined what was, up to that point, a charming and funny film written by Matthew Robinson. The cast was certainly a big part of my decision to give it a go, because I’m not a fan of Verbinski’s other movies, [like the first three “Pirates of the Caribbeans” films.] But ALL of the actors were spot-on and the dialogue was witty and entertaining.
Here is a synopsis of the plot from IMDB: “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.”
Sam Rockwell’s outfit, alone, was worth the price of admission. The take-down of the cell phone generation was hilarious.
I admit that the cloning of members of one’s family who have been killed in classroom shootings was crossing the line, but it crossed a line with some pretty funny stuff, even though the humor is predicated on one of the most tragic situations imaginable. The family that says they have lost FOUR children to classroom shooters—well, one was really a clone of the first child victim—was funny in the way that you wish the underlying horrifictruth di d not exist in reality. I still laughed, because the couple describing the loss of their children to school shootings pulled it off so well. All of the actors did—even the weird little kid that weakens the end of the Hulu offering.
I admit to liking almost everything that Sam Rockwell does, and, yes, I agree that there are echoes of “Twelve Monkeys,” a Bruce Willis/Brad Pitt film I thoroughly enjoyed.
This one requires you to think about the satire and respond with instantaneous merriment after which you can think about the dangers of A.I. or life in these unusual times.