Awkwafina and John Cena shine in Jackpot! With a ridiculous plot, it's the humour and the actors' entertaining performances that make it a fun watch.
When you start at the bottom, there is no way to go but up. That’s the sense one gets when they watch Jackpot! It starts with a premise that’s dumb enough for you to suspect a 10-year-old came up with it. Is it bad? Not exactly. Is it better than I expected from this silly premise? Yes. Jackpot! is funnier than expected and with charming leads, it ranks high in the ‘turn your brain off for a couple of hours’ type of entertainment.
In the not-so-distant future, the government of California comes up with a lottery scheme every year where the winner has to survive attacks from other ticket holders until sundown. If you have a losing ticket, you can kill the winner and stake a claim on the jackpot. The only rule is you can’t use guns. Why did the government come up with this creative scheme? Fuck knows.
Enter Katie Kim (Awkwafina), a child actor who’s returned to L.A. to pursue her diminished acting career. As luck would have it, she wins the grand lottery and suddenly everyone around her turns into an amateur hitman. With an entire city full of people out to murder her, her saving grace comes in the big form of John Cena, as Noel, a freelance bodyguard who promises to keep her safe for 10% of her winnings.
Katie has a hard time figuring out why Noel would want to save her for a tiny portion of the winnings when he can have it all if he finishes her off. Well, what can I say, he’s a sweet guy who belongs in a Judd Apatow movie. Louis Lewis (Simu Liu, adding comedy to his already strong resume) on the other hand, will take 30% of Katie’s jackpot for the same service Noel provides. He has a state-of-the-art facility where he can protect lottery winners from the general public. Navigating through this bizarre day, fighting off a horde of zombie-like savages, Katie has to fight for her survival.
Bridesmaids director and the creator of Freaks and Geeks, the great Paul Feig, directs this movie. A change of pace for him as the movie is a non-stop action extravaganza. But action isn’t his forte as the movie suffers from heavy cuts within these sequences making the fake action apparent and uninteresting. Action involving Cena is really good though. As good as WWE fights. Awkwafina also shows incredible flexibility like the great physical comedian Jackie Chan.
While Feig struggles with the action, he aces the comedy. The movie has a surprising amount of humour in scenes with the leads as well as the minor characters. This is my first time seeing Awkwafina and I absolutely loved her. There isn’t a single unconvincing moment in her performance. And she’s got that X factor that immediately puts you in her corner. She steals the show firmly placing Cena in the supporting category. No slouch himself, Cena’s comedic timing is getting just as good as his mastery in action.
Jackpot! is an allegory for how society reacts when one makes it big. But it’s still heavy-handed and stupid. Adding more depth to the characters or adding finer details to the fictional world the movie is set in would have helped. Having said that, Awkwafina and John Cena fans will certainly enjoy the movie.
Constance the Driver – ‘Wait a second, are you famous? I recognize you. ‘
Katie – ‘Uh-huh.’
Constance the Driver – ‘I do.’
Katie – ‘It’s possible. I was in..’
Constance the Driver – ‘Are you in that video where you put a can of Monster up your butt?’
Katie – ‘No, that wasn’t me.’
Constance the Driver – ‘It was orange flavour.’
Katie – ‘You think the flavour would jog my memory?’
Constance the Driver – ‘I don’t know what it’s like to shove something like that up my butt.’
Katie – ‘I don’t either.’
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