Film Pick of the Week: Don't Say Good Luck - review by Yvette Huddleston
Don’t Say Good Luck Netflix, review by Yvette Huddleston
Co-produced by Adam Sandler’s production company, this heartfelt family drama showcases the not inconsiderable talents of his younger daughter Sunny Sandler.
She plays high school student Sophie who has just auditioned for a part in the end of term musical production Waitress. Sophie has a lovely singing voice and is a talented actor, but she is quieter and less self-confident than some of the others going for the lead part and she assumes that she will probably get a supporting role. Sophie comes from a very happy, loving family – her parents Ted (Max Greenfield) and Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey) own and run a popular deli and they live in a comfortable if slightly chaotic household with Sophie and her younger twin brothers with whom she also has a close relationship.
The family have faced challenges over the last little while as Elizabeth has recently come through a battle with cancer and shortly before Sophie’s big audition, Elizabeth and Ted attend a medical consultation during which they find out that the cancer has returned. The prognosis is pretty bleak and when shortly afterwards Sophie is actually offered the lead role in the musical, Elizabeth decides that she will delay telling her daughter about her news.
Rehearsals begin and Sophie is encouraged by the production’s director popular teacher Ms Parker (Stephanie Beatriz) who can see something in her protégée and her confidence starts to grow. There is a little awkwardness when the school heartthrob Jack Davis (Jack Champion) is cast in the role of Sophie’s love interest, as she has a bit of a crush on him and they will be sharing her first ever stage kiss.
Meanwhile Elizabeth is going through treatment and is trying to carry on as normal, but needs extra support. She reluctantly calls on her parents – mother Linda (Bebe Neuwirth) and father Dale (Steve Buscemi) with whom she has a complicated relationship. They arrive to help. Sophie knows that her mother is tired but is still unaware of the seriousness of the situation. When eventually the truth comes out and it becomes clear that Elizabeth will not be well enough to attend Sophie’s performance, it is resolved in a very sweet, affecting way.
The musical numbers that feature are impressive from the whole of the young cast, Sandler gives a mature, moving performance and has a lovely singing voice. Overall, the narrative avoids sentimentality which ultimately adds to its emotional heft.