Gambling on the script – Jackpot! Movie review

I am guessing the writer of this movie had a look at the world outside and followed it up with watching the news and seeing that the world has gone belly up decided Why not make a film about it? Jackpot! is about a world in the future that is not deeply dystopian, with rubble and gloom, but close enough to today’s reality that makes you slightly worried. Set in 2030, in the State of California, where the Grand Lottery is the way to get rich, but with a twist. Lottery winners need to survive until sunset since the laws allow residents to kill and steal the millions.

The story

Enter Katie Kim (Awkwafina), a child artist who acted in a commercial years ago. After taking care of her sick mother, who recently passed away, Katie is looking for a way back to show biz. Moving into an AirBnB listed by a rather self-centered wannabe actress, Shadi, Katie ends up borrowing her hostess’ clothes for her audition. Without knowing what the Grand Lottery is, Katie activates the ticket with just a few minutes left to the big draw of 3.6 billion dollars. She wins and soon realizes that people are out to get her. Everyone around her, including the other ladies at the audition start the attack, making sure not to use guns/bullets.

As Katie tries to escape, Noel (John Cena) enters attacking the chasers and saving our unexpected winner. He offers to protect her until sunset at which time, the pursuers have to back-off and the ticket holder collects all the money. His cut for the effort is 10%. Katie’s instinct is to withdraw from the whole circus, though Noel seems reluctant. The “fans” as the chasers are called seem to have the duo cornered, but Noel seeks out Louis Lewis (Simu Liu), head of LPA, the firm that does professional winner protection. They are rescued and finally, when it seems to be a smooth ride for the last couple of hours, an unexpected secret is exposed and how Katie fends off the hordes forms the rest of the story.

The review

The story kind of hits home, after all, the majority of the population seem unhappy with the current situation – high inflation, more homelessness, the rich getting richer.. the list goes on. However, it feels lazy to mold the other elements to suite the story and leaving a lot of questions. For example, the no bullets/shooting rule or why the hunt ends when the original winner dies. Another plot hole, the drone that announces the winner’s position regularly can’t identify the winner in disguise but can track them otherwise.

Overall, it seems like a less gory version of The Purge but with a splash of comedy. The twist is very obvious and doesn’t add to the suspense of the plot. In terms of being funny, the movie doesn’t have you laughing for most of the movie. Part of the comedy ends up being Awkwafina trying to fight and escape from her fans.

John Cena is not known for his variety in acting, and this movie slots him in a very familiar role – a muscular guy who wants to show everyone he is not just brawn. Awkwafina, plays the confused, but quickly figuring it out main character well. However, with the poor script, it wasn’t much for either star to do much. Simu Liu’s character has screen time only in the second half of the movie and he doesn’t get to do much either. The other characters including the AirBnB host Shadi are unbelievable/unrelatable to really get you invested in their story. You get the vibes of Jenny Slate playing Mona-Lisa Saperstein from Parks and Recreation from her. Speaking of Shadi, that reminds me of another major plot hole – this character expects to win the lottery and is talking about it every waking minute and keeps her ticket in her pocket of a pant that she is NOT wearing on the day of the draw? She also doesn’t take 10 seconds to register the ticket as hers? Considering that this is a crucial leg that the plot needs to stand-on, this makes no sense.

The chase takes you on a LA tour, which would hardly have taken much effort to stitch together – given that the future portrayed in the movie isn’t much different looks-wise from today. This easily skippable movie, can be an option, if you are stuck at home and the only streaming service available at home is Amazon Prime. (Even then, you could rewatch Jumanji)