Lottery Ticket

Do you play the lottery in South Florida (the current jackpot in over $15 million dollars)?  What games do you play, Fantasy 5, Play 4, and Powerball?  What numbers do you play?  Wait, you don’t have to answer that question.  Just imagine what your life would be like if you did hit the big one.  Your life could become so much easier.  On the flip side, almost everyone you know would want a piece of you.  You’ll discover some friends you never knew that you had and the people who used to ignore you would certainly know who you are now.  This is just some of what Bow Wow must deal with in the new comedy, “Lottery Ticket”.

Bow Wow plays, Kevin.  He lives with his grandma (Loretta Devine) His two closest friends are Benny (Brandon T. Jackson) and Stacie (Naturi Naughton).  Kevin’s problems start early when he gets on a local thug’s (Gbenga Akinnagbe) bad side by not helping him steal a bunch of sneakers from the store where he works.  His life changes forever when he finds out he is the sole winner of a $370 million dollar jackpot, playing the numbers he got from a fortune cookie.  His first plan is to keep the ticket a secret from everyone in the projects where he lives, which must be for the entire July 4th weekend.  He knows only too well that if the word gets out everyone will want something from him or worse, try to steal it from him.

Urban comedies are usually bogged down with stereotypical characters and jokes.  While there may be a joke or two like that, this is a fresh movie with fully developed characters.  Bow Wow and Jackson really get to flex their acting muscles too.  Ice Cube, who was an executive producer on the movie, is part of a large collection of strong supporting characters.

It would be wonderful if we lived in a society where someone who sees the ads for a movie like “Lottery Ticket”, with a large African-American cast and they didn’t just dismiss it as one of “those” kind of movies.  Unfortunately, we don’t.  It’s too bad because anyone who sees this movie knows it is anything but that.  “Lottery Ticket” can be enjoyed by anyone.  It is rated PG-13 for sexual content, language including a drug reference, some violence and brief underage drinking.