Editor’s Note: Freeline Media critic Mike Fried has strong thoughts on a new film that explores our passion for smartphones, social media and artificial intelligence. Is the film intelligent? Read on!
By MIKE FRIED
GOOD LUCK HAVE FUN DON’T DIE
2.5/5
A man claiming to be from the future and claiming he has a bomb strapped to his chest takes control of Norm’s Diner in Los Angeles. He says things will not go well for the future of humanity because of social media and AI. He is at Norm’s to find the right combination of people to fight the future and save humanity. He says he had done this 117 times already. But he thinks this is the right time, finally. See, there’s a 9-year-old kid who is building the artificial intelligence that will end humanity.
And he has picked up a heck of a group. Two are teachers who have to escape from students who become mesmerized by their phone screens once they touch it. Another had a son killed by a school shooter and has her son cloned, then gets a device to speak with the disembodied voice of her real dead son who tells her to go with the man in the restaurant. There is a young woman who doesn’t have a cellphone because she is allergic to them (as well as WiFi) and whose boyfriend left her for an alternate artificial “better” reality.
The movie is certainly a pointed take in today’s reliant use of mobile technology and social media (like how I’m writing this review now). But if I have to put a pin in this, it was much too over the top. It tried to have the vibe of Everything Everywhere All At Once but that film — which basically had people who loved it and people who hated it and no in-between — was about a family that loved each other and this just seems like another screed against this movie demonic Artificial Intelligence.
But, here’s the problem. Except for Sam Altman, Leon Musque, and a few other Tech Bros, no one really likes AI so the notion that this is some sort of revolutionary story is pure nonsense. In addition, the fact that a lot of people will be watching this movie on their cellphones belies the notion that anyone will care about the prevalence of social media and cellphones in our lives. So the “serious message angle” of the film is going to get lost.
So why make it?
Because it is a chance to get a great cast together?
Certainly, Juno Temple as the grieving mother of a dead child really has never been better. Haley Lu Richardson as the WiFi allergy girl is having a fun time. And Michael Peña and Zazie Beetz are terrific as the schoolteachers. But, without a doubt it is Sam Rockwell as The Man From The Future is dead on bonkers as only Sam Rockwell can be. He is very funny in the role and he brings both humor and passion to the role.
But, ultimately, as good looking as the film is and as well presented the message is, the conclusion of the film just seems empty and derivative. It seems like a lot of random thoughts tied together hoping that it will make sense.
And it doesn’t.
Just like the internet.
SKIP IT!
Michael Fried has no formal training in movies, except having watched over 26,000+ movies — if not more — in his 60-plus years on this planet, starting with Goldfinger as his first cinema experience. He knows what he likes and he knows what he doesn’t like, and it’s quite often different from the conventional wisdom. He knows that the best franchise is Godzilla and he loves action movies and comedies. He has not been nominated for any awards except some boring insurance awards which has no applicability to movies (with the possible exceptions of Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity and John Cassavettes’ Big Trouble). He is part of a team that won the 1980 SUNY Albany Trivia content by correctly guessing the question, “Who played the president of Klopstockia in Million Dollar Legs?” So he has that going for him, which is nice.
Contact Mike at moviemike3@yahoo.com and mike.fried@yahoo.com.
