Lottery Ticket (2010)

By Devon Gilbert

It ain't no Friday

I viewed Lottery Ticket with very low expectations; after all, a PG-13 version of Friday doesn’t seem like a very smart idea.  In fact, a PG-13 movie that takes place in the projects seems like a bad idea period.  I love Friday, and a lot of what made that movie work (besides Chris Tucker) was the non-stop hilarious profanity by very profane characters.  That being said, I found Lottery Ticket enjoyable enough.  There were some funny parts and the movie was entertaining, if way too predictable.  There were funny characters, but also funny actors wasted.  In a way, the whole movie was give and take.

The basic plot is one that has potential.  In a project filled with several poor people, everyone is buying tickets for the lotto, which is at $370 million.  Kevin (Bow Wow) is a laid back teen who works at Foot Locker and doesn’t play the lotto because he feels it’s just designed to make money off poor people’s hopes.  However, that doesn’t stop his Grandmother (Loretta Devine) from sending him to buy her a ticket, with her special numbers she got from Jesus.  While Kevin is buying her a ticket, he is coerced into buying one for himself from the cashier.  Of course, he wins, and news travels fast in the projects.  Pretty soon everyone wants to be Kevin’s best friend and more importantly, some just want his ticket.

That’s the movie’s basic plot, with everything else pretty much barrowed from Friday.  Instead of Chris Tucker, Brandon T. Jackson tries to be Tucker as Kevin’s best friend Benny. I’ve seen Jackson in a few movies and he seems to be a decent actor, but he is no Chris Tucker and for some reason it was impossible for me not to compare the two.  I thought the friendship portrayed between Kevin and Benny worked, but Jackson playing the funny, zany, always in trouble best friend didn’t.  Instead of Tommy “Tiny” Lister, you get Gbenga Akinnagbe (whom was part of the excellent cast on HBO’s The Wire) as the bully (Lorenzo) who provides the climax amongst a few other things.  I thought Akinnagbe’s Lorenzo was one of the funniest characters in the movie.  I looked forward to his scenes because his over the top anger was laugh out loud funny.  Also, Mike Epps as Reverend Taylor is mainly why I watched the movie, and he was hilarious.  It’s too bad he wasn’t in the movie longer.  Loretta Devine also had some funny parts.  On the opposite end, Charlie Murphy was woefully wasted.  He was consistently hilarious on Chapelle’s Show but doesn’t have the time or material to be funny in this movie.  Most of the other side characters aren’t that funny even though they’re trying, but sometimes they’re good for a chuckle.  Though again, none are as funny as the side characters in Friday.

I would actually go to church if Epps was the Reverend

The movie has many flaws in the plot department.  For one, it seems like walking around with the unsigned lotto ticket is just plain ignorant.  Kevin would probably be beaten and mugged in the nicest of neighborhoods, let alone the projects.  Also, there’s a side plot in which Kevin goes out with a very hot girl even though it’s so obvious she wants him just for his money I find it impossible to believe the dumbest of human beings wouldn’t see it, instead of trying to get with his other best friend Stacie (Naturi Naughton.)  Though wouldn’t you know it, he soon realizes he loves Stacie and not the moneygrubber.  Also, I think the idea of giving back to the projects was a fantastic one and could have been its own movie.  However, Lottery Ticket really doesn’t do anything with this idea.  Also, when you find out Ice Cubes’ loner character used to be a boxer, you know exactly how the movie will end.

I guess if you’re hungry for a ghetto comedy, Lottery Ticket may be just enough to satisfy if your expectations are in check.  After all, there really aren’t a lot of them.  Just don’t expect to watch it over and over again like Friday.

Lottery Ticket:  B-