Film Review – Jackpot! (2024)

Who wouldn’t want to win big on the lottery? Rhetorical question. But put yourself in 2030’s California, the setting for Paul Feig’s Jackpot!, and you might have second thoughts because, on one level, this is a world where winning the top prize makes you a target. Alternatively, this is a chase movie, a buddy movie and an action comedy all rolled into one. You pay your money and you take your choice.

In this vision of the golden state, inflation is spiralling, unemployment is rampant and the state government comes up with a money-making idea – a lottery. But this one has a twist: the winner has to survive for 24 hours after their name has been announced before they can receive their money. And, if they’re killed during that time, the person responsible pockets their cash. The latest winner is Katie Kim (Awkwafina), new in Los Angeles and soon being chased by hordes with one thing in mind. Rescued by lottery protection agent Noel (John Cena), her safety seems to be in better hands, until his long-term rival emerges, somebody who’s determined to collect Katie’s entire winnings at all costs.

The action, laughs, crazy chases and banter between the two leads are essentially the froth disguising something aspiring to be much darker, a portrait of a society rapidly going downhill. The desperation that goes with a crashing economy has turned life into a dog-eat-dog fight for survival, giving Feig plenty of satirical targets, from politics to the film industry. But what should be black in tone is closer to a pale grey, with only the occasional barb hitting its target. He seems more interested in that froth, the manic comedy fronted by his two leads – they are barely off the screen, Awkwafina in particular – so that any attempts to dig deeper into what could have been a more thought-provoking side to the action only meet with a brick wall.

For the first two acts, it relies on the action comedy mix, throwing in large-scale chase sequences in rapid succession, and it’s reasonably successful. But by the time the third one comes along, the attempts at satire have faded to nothing and the plot has run out of steam. It limps towards the finish on the back of a storyline that sees Noel’s enemy getting his just desserts. And, if we didn’t realise that the ideas had run dry, that old chestnut of adding outtakes to the end credits is there to make it crystal clear – and painfully so, given that some of the bloopers are funnier than those used in the film. Take a bow Leslie David Baker, who delivers a pure gem and simply doesn’t get enough screen time.

The double act of the omni-present Awkwafina and Cena is the film’s saving grace. While we see little new from them – she is as fast talking and quick on her feet as ever, while he’s still the good hearted guy with more brawn than brain – their different comedic styles complement each other well. That’s more than can be said for Feig’s attempt to blend social and political satire with near-screwball comedy. It’s a shaky fit at best and a car crash at worst.

★★ 1/2

On Prime Video from 15 August / John Cena, Awkwafina, Simu Liu, Seann William Scott, Ayden Mayeri, Dolly de Leon, Leslie David Baker, Machine Gun Kelly / Dir: Paul Feig / Prime Video / 15