Rating:  

Alcon Entertainment, Burg/Koules Productions, Cube Vision, and Warner Bros. Pictures.

Written by: Erik White and Abdul Williams (story) and Abdul Williams (screenplay)

The idea for the urban comedy “Lottery Ticket” seems reasonable enough. A just out of high school 18-year old kid wins the state lottery to the tune of $370 million. Stuck living in the projects in an unnamed inner city, the “what would you do?” scenario, in that setting and impoverished environment, is a provocative topic that a well-written screenplay could explore the adversity, the possibilities, and the good and the bad that would come from that event happening.

This…is not that movie. Well, to be fair, it is that movie in premise.

Kevin Carson (Bow Wow) works at Foot Locker in the mall and lives in a place where danger may not lurk around every corner, but the residents know that something could spring up at any given moment. Kevin lives with his grandmother (Loretta Devine) and along with best friend Benny (Brandon T. Jackson) and the beautiful Stacey (Naturi Naughton), life is delicately peaceful. The opening 20-25 minutes of “Lottery Ticket” takes an interesting approach of introducing us to an abundance of characters who will return throughout the film. We encounter the feared Lorenzo (Gbenga Akinnagbe), the intimidating thug who tells Kevin that he will give Lorenzo multiple pairs of the new Michael Jordan shoes when they are released…or else. We also are introduced to a witty foursome who hang out at the same block every day, the high school crush Kevin never had a chance with (Teairra Mari), and a mysterious old man who never shows his face, but always sticks his hand out with a grocery order that Kevin picks up (Ice Cube).

This particular day for Kevin meets a troubling end when Lorenzo arrives at the Foot Locker and brazenly steals shoes and implies that Kevin authorized it. Fired from his job, Kevin stops by the convenience store to pick up the old man’s groceries and remembers to play some lottery numbers for his grandmother. When the clerk, (Faheem Najm, a/k/a R&B singer T-Pain), convinces Kevin that the $370 million prize is too good to pass up, Kevin begrudgingly runs numbers he received from a fortune cookie. Needless to say, the next morning Kevin learns of a most incredible fate and celebrates with his grandmother the fact that they have the winning ticket and 18-year old Kevin is the lone winner of the extraordinary $370 million prize. Winning his prize over the 4th of July weekend poses a problem – the state lottery offices are not open until Tuesday, July 5. Kevin has to keep his win a secret and keep that ticket safe until Tuesday. And it is at this moment that “Lottery Ticket” unravels in a most spectacular fashion.

After investing a half an hour to get to that ultimate winning moment, the screenplay by Abdul Williams has no idea what to do with itself. Worse than that, it soon becomes apparent that nearly all of the characters we have been introduced to are nothing more than tired and shopworn old stereotypes or caricatures; actors and actresses who are reduced to playing characters we have seen hundreds of times in urban comedies. Suffice to say, these are not flattering portrayals. The screenplay by Williams and director, Erik White, feels unchecked with the movie veering off in so many directions that “Lottery Ticket” comes off rather amateurish. Erik White, making the leap from music videos to feature films, seems completely lost in his own production.

Even if you set aside how poorly shot and edited segments of the film are, the piecing together of scenes is haphazard at best. Slapstick comedy lines up with dramatic moments. Romance and sex scenes are placed alongside awkward attempts at message and meaning. Ultimately, “Lottery Ticket” is a misguided mess of multiple ideas of movies that the filmmakers assume we are just going to embrace and love. But, individual moments are simply not enough in a film that has an opportunity to be smart, thought-provoking, and funny. When you sprinkle in exhausting cliches of mob bosses, bodyguards, gold digging women, and the cringe-worthy sequence where Kevin struts through the community calling out Lorenzo for a brawl and showdown, the movie loses any goodwill it may have generated. Uncomfortably, the film seems to carry a message of violence as a means to resolving most conflicts. Remember, we are discussing a film entitled, “Lottery Ticket”.

Bow Wow is still learning how to be a leading man and his performance is not awful but not consistent enough to make a connection. He does generate some chemistry with Naturi Naughton’s Stacey, who is the assembly line love interest Kevin fails to see right before his own eyes. Ice Cube is surprisingly good playing the mysterious old man who eventually shares his identity to Kevin, proving to be a unique conscious for the new millionaire. Pleasingly,the movie is stolen outright by R&B singer and Auto-Tune master, T-Pain, who shows great comedic chops in his brief three scenes as the convenience clerk who sold Kevin the winning ticket.

Squandering what might have been for cheap and easy laughs, unimaginative dramatic arcs, pointless violent overtones, and stock and bloodless assembly line characters, “Lottery Ticket” is a shoddy and mediocre film that had the potential to be something interesting and entertaining. A few moments here or there will satiate some, but there are better gambles to take than with this “Lottery Ticket.”

Should I See It?

Fans of urban-themed comedies will find a lot to like here. There may be enough humor and slapstick comedy to make this a pass for some viewers.

There really aren’t any bad performances, although the cameos and supporting performances outshine the leads with T-Pain, Mike Epps, and Ice Cube standing out.

This will pass for some as mindless, escapist entertainment. So, if that’s what you’re looking for, by all means…

See the movie and fill in this area below (I got nothing left):

______________________________

I suppose the teenagers who will be interested will not care, but this film is a mess of drama, comedy, and message that fails to take the time to be all that good at any of these genres.

The cliches and stereotypes are especially frustrating because it screams of laziness and cheapness on behalf of the writers and filmmakers. For some, they may even serve as offensive.

Whatever message it aims for is lost on me, except I am again reminded that a good fistfight or gun draw can resolve most any conflict. Um…what?

The movie is edited and shot rather poorly. Bow Wow’s arm tattoos, covered up by makeup, are still visible in some scenes and frequently the continuity between shots are noticeably off. If you notice them, these production gaffes take you right out of the film.