For a movie that is a two-hour criticism of artificial intelligence and internet technology, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die feels like the script was written by AI as it’s a compilation of Groundhog Day, Black Mirror, Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Twelve Monkeys and The Terminator franchise.
With a budget of $20 million, it’s directed by Gore Verbinski and has Sam Rockwell in a role written specifically for Sam Rockwell. And that’s part of the problem. We’ve seen this before with him (and a lot better) as he plays a unnamed man who claims to be from the future. He dresses like a homeless man crossed with Bruce Willis’ plastic suit from Monkeys. He walks into a short-order diner at night and rambles on about the dangers of the Internet.
So much of the beginning of the movie is spent in the Norms diner that I got bored and stopped watching. It took me 3-4 viewings as I lost interest and just left it on while I did stuff around the house. And the ending also drags on so much just to pull a fast one, you’ll feel cheated.
If you’re going to preach a message, you better make it entertaining. But at two hours and 15 minutes with credits, this should’ve been a crisp hour and a half movie. It’s written by Matthew Robinson who also co-wrote The Invention of Lying, another story that can’t hold its premise for an entertaining feature movie.
Several of the people at the diner accompany the man as we see their back stories which seem to bog the story down. Michael Pena and Zazie Beets are Mark and Janet, two substitute teachers, who experience some strange occurrences similar to a zombie movie in which teens walk around with their phones. This might have worked if it wasn’t so cynical it’s basically Grandpa Simpsons yelling at clouds.
Next is Susan (Juno Temple), a suburban mom, who’s traumatized with the death of her son at a school shooting but learns there is technology to have him cloned but the clone is programmed oddly. And then there is Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson), a former party princess performer who is allergic to technology. The man says his mom died when he was a child. So you can probably guess what is going to be revealed in the final sct.
The plot goes many directions but never comes together to construct a coherent story. I don’t think the movie is restricted by its budget. But it insists upon itself with a pretentious smugness. What’s funny is how I’ve seen more and more people older than I who are always on their phones or have benefited more from AI. And Robinson isn’t some old coot. He’s 48.
AI didn’t start a few years ago. It’s been around for decades. And filmmakers and writers have told better stories about the dangers of technology and AI.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 