Sandler and Lynskey Anchor Netflix's 'Don't Say Good Luck'
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- "Don't Say Good Luck" is the latest Netflix collaboration with Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions, directed by Julia Hart and described in the review as markedly more delicate and deeply felt than typical Sandler-imprint fare.
- Sunny Sandler, Adam's 17-year-old daughter with 26 prior film credits, stars as high school sophomore Sophie, who lands the lead role in her school's spring production of Broadway musical "Waitress" after a purely sung audition.
- Melanie Lynskey plays Elizabeth, Sophie's mother, who balances childcare with running a local deli alongside husband Ted (Max Greenfield) while grappling with a recurring cancer diagnosis years after beating the disease.
- The film sidesteps standard medical-exposition scenes, keeping the crisis domestic and emotionally intimate as Elizabeth decides how to alternately protect and prepare her family.
- Supporting performances include Steve Buscemi as Elizabeth's father Dale (delivering the film's emotional advice line), Stephanie Beatriz as the kindly drama teacher Ms. Parker, Bebe Neuwirth as Elizabeth's officious mother Linda, Jack Champion as Sophie's co-lead and crush, and Scarlett Estevez as her best friend navigating her own queer self-discovery.
- Sophie sings Sara Bareilles' signature ballad "She Used to Be Mine" in a climactically blossoming musical sequence built into Hart's direction, landing the film's emotional peak.
- Hart's prior credits — the Disney+ "Stargirl" films and the 2018 indie superhero film "Fast Color" — position her as a director skilled at balancing mainstream house style with cross-generational emotional depth.
Why it matters: This is a deliberate tonal departure for Happy Madison, with Adam Sandler's daughter anchoring a quieter, indie-leaning drama rather than the brand's typical broad comedies. The review frames the film as evidence that Netflix is leveraging Hart's pedigree for human-feeling, cross-generational storytelling inside the Happy Madison pipeline.
Ask SkimNews
