Realism buoys Good Luck
There are numerous ways a film like Don’t Say Good Luck could go wrong and yet director Julia Hart applies just the right touch to pull off this small miracle of a movie. Working from a script she co-wrote with husband Jordan Horowitz and first-time scribe Laura Hankin, the filmmaker handles its sensitive topic with an uncommonly deft touch that never veers toward being mawkish. Her accomplished cast also treats the material with a sincerity that ensures the movie doesn’t descend into melodrama, each taking a grounded approach to their characters that rings true throughout. The result is a genuinely moving, quiet film that charts a still all-too common tragic circumstance, the worst stages of which often occur behind closed doors.
Like so many teenagers, Sophie Birenbaum (Sunny Sandler) has a lot on her plate. However, at the moment, auditioning for her high school musical is front and center. And though she’s quite certain she’ll be cast in a bit part, she manages to get the lead, which results in a crisis of confidence she has to overcome. Having a crush on the male lead (Jack Champion) only adds to her anxiety and excitement and while her best friend, Carolyn (Scarlett Estevez) is there to support her, she senses she has other concerns on her mind.
Things become far more complicated when the cancer her mother, Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey) thought was in remission, recurs. Her father, Ted (Max Greenfield), puts on a brave face, ensuring Sophie and her two younger brothers that all will be well. However, it soon becomes apparent the cruel disease will not be deterred, forcing each family member to come to terms with the unthinkable.
Unlike so many dramas of this ilk, Hart doesn’t employ cheap ploys to wring tears from the audience. Absent is an over-wrought score cued up at key moments to inform us it’s time to weep, while the script is devoid of scenes in which characters exhibit their feelings in a histrionic manner. The director’s humane approach allows the story to play out in a genuine manner that does justice to the subject matter as well as though with the misfortune of dealing with it in real-life. As a result, the story has a far greater impact, its honesty engaging the viewer in ways cheap theatrics never can.
Hart’s biggest contribution may be in her casting choices. Lynskey has yet to give a false performance and is exceptional here, conveying a combination of strength, dread and despair that’s breaks your heart. Greenfield surprises with a subtly complex turn, his Ted’s brave face slowly chipping away as the realization of his family’s fate becomes plain. Bebe Neuwirth and Steve Buscemi as Elizabeth’s parents steal the few scenes they appear in, the former in a panic over her daughter’s fate, the later providing a quiet sense of assurance the family will make it through this time, battered but resilient.
Obviously, none of this works if Sandler isn’t up to the task and fortunately, she’s more than capable of handling this demanding role. Better with every appearance, the young actress has us in Sophie’s corner from the start. A natural on the screen, you can’t help but be charmed by the unassuming way she approaches the role. She commands our attention while in the spotlight during the school musical, when she’s needy and in search of answers, never forces a moment or her lines, and in key moments, matches Lynskey each emotional beat after another.
While films such as this and the underrated 2019 feature Our Friend are difficult to watch, they’ve vital for generating empathy and serving as a reminder of the impact and toll this scourge continues to exact. Good treats these matters with the reverence they deserve but never with a heavy-handed or maudlin approach. As such, the film emerges as a testament to the kind of familial love that sustains us through and allows us to continue after the worst occurs. Streaming on Netflix.
Brink tripped up by subplots
There’s a great deal of push and pull in Micheal Russell Gunn’s The Brink of War, a film that has no trouble painting a flattering picture of President Ronald Reagan. While praising the jelly-bean-eating commander in chief proves easy for the writer/director, avoiding a heavy-handed approach where espousing its pro-American perspective is much more difficult. To be sure, the audience the movie this is aimed at won’t object, but those looking for a more even-handed rendering of this significant historical event will be left lacking.
Gunn shows his flair for the dramatic with his opening shot of Reagan (Jeff Daniels) cast against an ominous sky, declaring to Secretary of State George Shultz (J.K. Simmons), “I failed.” It soon becomes apparent this is the end of the historic 30-hour meeting between the president and General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev (Jared Harris), a mini-summit that was held to discuss the reduction of the nations’ combined 70,000 nuclear missile stockpile.
Gunn then takes us back to the early hours of Oct. 11, 1986, in Reykjavik, Iceland as Reagan awaits the arrival of his counterpart. Employing a “Peace through Strength” approach, he’s aggressively increased the U.S. nuclear arsenal and has been labeled a “war monger” as a result. He hopes Gorbachev will be open to reducing each nation’s European-based missiles to zero, which would lead to a reevaluation of his image. Little does he know his counterpart will be amenable to this suggestion and much more.
What could have been a very dry history lesson proves compelling thanks to the strong performances from the two leads. While neither Daniels nor Harris resemble the men they’re playing, each masters their characters mannerisms and vocal inflections so well they collectively create a convincing illusion. More importantly, the actors’ back-and-forth is consistently engaging. Whether lobbing veiled or obvious insults at each other, passionately defending their respective ideologies or finding common ground, Daniels and Harris create a compelling dynamic that brings these events to life while underscoring the vital nature of all that was at stake.
Had Gunn simply stuck to all that occurred between the two leaders and the responses of their advisers, “Brink” would have been a resounding success. Unfortunately, he feels compelled to add poorly-written and executed scenes involving the opposing security details, moments featuring Raisa Gorbachev (Branka Katic) and Nancy Reagan (Hope Davis) and woefully underdeveloped sequences featuring members of the international press corps assigned to cover the meeting. The energy of the film noticeably dissipates whenever Gunn cuts to any of these subplots, none of them adding anything vital to the story.
Also regrettable are two speeches given by Reagan to Schulz, one at the beginning of the summit, the other at its close. Both are blatant expressions of the president’s vision of America, Gunn’s intent to paint a noble portrait of his hero coming to the fore in the most obvious and ineffectual ways. Daniels plays these moments with conviction but even he can’t overcome their hagiographic nature to make them convincing.
We’re left with a sense of regret as the film comes to a close. While this meeting did not initially lead to an immediate scaling back of arms, it did lay the foundation for latter talks that proved productive. That a compromise of any consequence can be reached by today’s leaders seems impossible. And while Brink focuses on a summit that was initially deemed a failure, its portrayal of two well-intended, intelligent men striving to create a better world for those they represent seems like an antiquated notion we’ll likely seldom see again. In Theaters.
This article appears in August 6-12, 2026.
