THE NEW AMAZON PRIME COMEDY “JACKPOT” IS GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE THEATER

In the 1980s there were a slew of action films where the survival of the main character was based on how well they could survive a string of extreme instances. Most of them starred Arnold, Sly, Van Damme, or Norris showing off their skills or muscles. One of the more thought-provoking ones was The Running Man staring Ah-nold where in a dark future criminals are forced to participate in a game show where they have to survive in order to gain their freedom. The catch? They’re being tracked by well-armed “stalkers” with special costumes and weapons. The studio audience can win prizes based on how well the stalker they bet on does at killing the convicts. It seems almost laughable until you sometimes look at society and wonder how far we are from it. The movie Jackpot takes that premise and makes it comedy where everyone is in on the game.

In this not-too-distant future, the game in Jackpot is not based on criminals but on the lottery. Anyone in LA can enter the lottery simply by scanning their thumbprint. Once entered the lottery picks a “winner”. If you’re the lucky person chosen you could win millions of dollars! The only catch is you have to survive until sundown. Who are the “stalkers” in this dystopian future? Everyone. If someone kills you then they get your jackpot which means you can’t trust anyone. The only rules are that the people chasing you can’t use bullets. Katie Kim, played by Awkwafina is the latest “winner” and has to escape on the streets of LA from literally everyone that wants her prize money. Helping her is Noel, played by John Cena who is a hired hand that will protect the lottery winner for a percentage of the winning pot. They must stay on the run as every crazy person in the city tries to kill Katie. Simu Liu plays Louis Lewis, the head of another lottery protection agency that also wants to save Katie to get a cut of the largest lottery in history.

I’m going to say right away that you will really like this movie. It is full of action and full of comedy! Awkwafina is great as the victim of a lottery she didn’t even know existed and John Cena plays the big, innocent, good guy with a heart of gold to a tee. There is a cast of crazy characters chasing them all over the city and there are also a few fun cameos. The film definitely touches on the overpowering will of greed in our society. That everyone will do whatever they can to simply get rich even if it includes murder. The fight scenes are outrageous in a good way where it is almost winking at the audience with their overblown action and painful moments. Awkwafina and Cena have great chemistry as does Liu who plays a shady character to a comedic tee. You won’t get bored watching, nor will you not be laughing at a majority of the film. While not perfect there aren’t many flaws as it is a characterization of society and made to satirically skewer our greedy nature. What I like is that it doesn’t shove a message down your throat about greed, but instead focuses on trust and coming back from tough situations. Get it on your list and wonder not just about what you would do in the scenario of the film, but also why wasn’t this film in theaters where it would have made a bunch of money before going to streaming. Maybe the film makers also didn’t want to be greedy.