Don’t Say Good Luck

Jeff’s take

I have to be upfront: my mom had cancer. Cancer movies hit too close to home for me. I know that colours how I watched this, and I’m not going to pretend otherwise.

It got to me emotionally. There were parts where I wasn’t really reviewing a movie anymore — I was just sitting there thinking about my own family. That’s a hard place to watch from, and it’s the main reason my score is where it is.

I love Adam Sandler. I always have. And his real-life daughter is genuinely good in this — she does a great job, and I wasn’t expecting to be that impressed. The ending is relatively happy too, which helped.

But my final score on the Jeff O Meter is 3 out of 10. That’s me being honest about my own experience with it, not a knock on the people who made it.

What works

• Adam Sandler’s real-life daughter is very good in the role.
• Adam Sandler himself — I’ve always liked him, and that hasn’t changed.
• The ending is relatively happy, which I appreciated after everything before it.

What to know before watching

• If cancer is close to home for you, know that going in — it was for me.
• Strong medical, cancer and death discussion, plus some graphic medical scenes.
• Family disputes, mild coarse language and minor teen alcohol consumption.
• Not one for young children.