Don't Say Good Luck (film): Perhaps Sandler's daughter has a future in acting

I don't know about you but Adam Sandler's movies ever since he got the exclusive contract with Netflix have been a bit of a mixed bag. I have enjoyed most of the serious films that he's done even before the Netflix contract and I enjoyed most of them after as well. His silly comedies are something that is very hit and miss with me. His truly over the top and ridiculous films such as The Ridiculous Six have been especially bad. His form of juvenile comedy can only appeal to me for so long and mostly I'm kind of done with that.

When his daughter Sunny expressed and interest in doing some acting the world was like "here we go with the nepotism" and she perhaps got shots in other things, I want to say I recall her having bit roles with her Dad in other things, but nothing that really stands out.

In Don't Say Good Luck Adam isn't even in the film, so Sunny had a chance to prove that she isn't just riding Dad's wave.

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The story here is that Sophie (Sunny Sandler) is a somewhat socially awkward teen that is trying out for the school musical. She doesn't expect to get cast in it at all but ends up getting the lead role. She struggles to come to terms with the preparation for her role and this is especially true with her co-star that she kind of fancies and thinks that he feels the same way about her.

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It appeared for a minute there that his was going to become some angst-ridden teenage romance story but thankfully this is not a major part of the storyline although I will say that Sunny and whoever the boy is in the opposite role did a pretty good job with this.

The real story here is that while she is prepping for the play, Sunny's mom (in the film) gets a diagnosis from her doctor that her cancer has returned and this time there is no treatment and she is definitely going to die.

Sophie struggles with performing in the play as well as the emotions that come along with dealing with her mother who cannot even come out of the house to see the play that her daughter is in.

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There's some fun and well-done scenes here as Mom's condition worsens over time but all the while she does that thing that moms do and is fully supportive and selfless when it comes to her daughter even though she is the one that is dying.

This sort of emotion that is necessary to bring to the filming is a big ask of anyone, especially someone that is as inexperienced as Sunny is but for the most part, she absolutely nails it. There were some crying scenes that seemed a bit forced but I will admit that I was seriously looking for flaws at that point because I was so impressed with Sunny's job overall. For a casual viewer, they probably wouldn't have noticed that.

I was an actor in the past especially on stage and well, I don't think you need that level of experience that I had to realize that getting sad and crying on cue is pretty damn hard to do. It can also be quite embarrassing if you overdo it or get it wrong. It separates actors from non-actors, I suppose.

Sunny does a good job with this and I'm one of the people that thinks her father Adam is actually one of the best at switching on the waterworks for many of his films. Many disagree with this but in this situation I don't think the apple fell very far from the tree and I am looking forward to seeing Sunny in other sorts of roles in the future.

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The name of the film comes from an expression that is done in stage acting where you never say 'good luck' to anyone that is about to go on stage. You instead will say 'break a leg' which was an ironic statement developed a very long time ago that is meant to be the opposite of "good luck." It's just a tradition and I recall it from when I was doing stage acting.

The film is a tear-jerker and this will affect anyone that has had any level of family love in their own life, which I like to believe is most people.

I almost didn't watch this film because it looked on the surface to be just another one of Adam Sandler's handout projects to his friends and family. I think he stood back on this one though and let other people take the reigns. As is usually the case, some of his pals appear in it as well, such as Steve Buscemi.

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This made me feel a bit old myself because Steve plays the role of Sophie's Grandfather. My goodness, where has the time gone?

Should I watch it?

I really think you should actually. Don't get turned back like I nearly did just because it has a Sandler family member in the main role. Give it a shot at least because Sunny really impressed me and that seems to be the general consensus among both profession reviewers and the general public.

It's certainly much better than most of what Netflix has on offer right now anyway.

_{The only legal way to stream this is with a Netflix subscription}