Sometimes we just need to cry. Sometimes we just need to release the worries, stressors, and emotions weighing on us from day to day. Well, Netflix’s new film Don’t Say Good Luck seems determined to make you cry. Produced by Adam and Jackie Sandler, the film follows Sophie Birenbaum, portrayed by Sunny Sandler, who lands the lead role in her high school theatre production of Waitress, when she suddenly learns her mother is dying of cancer.
I would like to state for the record that nepotism from the Sandler family is the only type of nepotism I will support. Sunny Sandler delivers an honest and believable performance that captures the melodramatics of high school life while still carrying the weight of a terminal cancer diagnosis. Her singing voice always informed the viewer of where her true emotions, frustrations, and anger lay. Those emotions come to the surface most clearly during her audition of “When He Sees Me,” which mirrors the anxiety Sophie is experiencing with that of Dawn, the character singing in Waitress.
The script brings little new to the coming-of-age or cancer drama, and at times failed to really deliver the tearjerking impact it intended to.The writing can also get lost in the frivolous hyperbolic reactions of a teenager, which pushes the emotional weight of the cancer storyline to the backseat. And yet, somehow, you may still find your eyes swelling with tears of joy, laughter, grief, and dread.
Ultimately, while Don’t Say Good Luck can feel juvenile at times, its heart is in the right place. Beneath the teenage dramatics and familiar storytelling is a film about love, loss, and the people who help us carry the weight of both. Audiences may find themselves laughing at one moment and wiping away tears the next, but the film’s greatest strength is its reminder that we do not have to face life’s hardest moments alone. Don’t Say Good Luck may not reinvent the coming-of-age drama, but it offers something just as meaningful: a tearful, heartfelt story about togetherness when we need it most.
Honorable mention to Max Greenfield for an outstanding performance as well!
Final Verdict:
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