Lottery Ticket

I have a general mistrust of movies like Lottery Ticket long before I've ever seen them. Throwing together a questionable cast consisting of Bow Wow, Mike Epps, and Ice Cube fills me with memories of far too many ignorant ghetto comedies with little to say and even fewer laughs to offer. It's obvious that Ice Cube, who both produces and co-stars, is riffing off of 1995's Friday, one of the few mainstream African-American comedies that breaks the mold. While Lottery Ticket is no Friday by any means, and it often devolves into stereotype, it deserves credit for having a clear cut positive message and for having some fun while delivering it.

The formerly Lil Bow Wow(now just Bow Wow) is Kevin Carson, a kid not too much different than Ice Cube's character, Craig, from Friday. He's at a dead end job, although in his case it's working at Foot Locker to feed his shoe obsession. He lives with his bible thumping mom(Loretta Devine) in the ghetto, where you get yelled at for slamming the screen door(sound familiar?) and everybody in town is a shiftless layabout.  Kevin's a good guy for the most part. He just wants to keep his mom happy, buy himself some kicks, and hang out with his best friend, Benny(Brandon T. Jackson).

Strangely enough for someone living in the projects, but that life is far too neat and easy. While the vast majority of the neighbors are either lazy or gossip-mongers, there's a hint of darkness in the form of Lorenzo, a Deebo-like thug who just got out of jail. A run in with Lorenzo at work gets Kevin fired and Lorenzo sent back behind bars just long enough for the word to spread that Kevin's a snitch. Hoping his luck will change, Kevin buys a lottery ticket using numbers from a fortune cookie. He hits the huge $370M jackpot and tries to do the smart thing, which is not tell a soul. Unfortunately his mother has all the restraint of a runaway horse, and soon the entire neighborhood knows and starts hitting him up for cash. The problem is, Kevin can't cash in the ticket until Tuesday because of the 4th of July holiday. But with Lorenzo back out of jail, and an entire neighborhood of skeezers and hoodrats lookin' to jump his bones for a quick payday, Kevin must rely on his friends to survive with his scrupals and his payday intact. More money, more problems.

The script by Abdul Williams doesn't always paint a pretty picture of inner city residents, picturing most of them as greedy and conniving. The ever redundant Mike Epps shows up for a hot second as a preacher who already has his hands in Kevin's backpocket looking for a hand out. Teairra Marí plays the role that I'm assuming Megan Goode passed on, as the chief golddigger  tryin' to hook up with the newly minted millionaire. 

In far too many of these urban comedies, there's little attempt to balance the negative portrayals with anything resembling positivity. Or even worse, they go way overboard with trying to send a message that any comedic edge is lost. Lottery Ticket manages to have it both ways, as a number of well-respected characters bring the funny and a positive influence on Kevin's life. The best of the bunch is Brandon T. Jackson as Benny, a character who could be easily dismissed as the "Smokey"-type friend, but without doubt has the most stirring scene in the entire film as his friendship with Kevin begins to crack under the pressure of newfound wealth. Naturi Naughton, so good as Lil Kim in Notorious back in 2008, shines as Kevin's oldest and wisest friend, Stacie. The two have a chemistry that everybody can see. Well, except for Kevin, of course.

Bow Wow gets a little lost in the shuffle opposite the talented supporting cast. He's just not very good at expressing any emotion other than elation or outright anger, and even those need a little work. Kinda makes me wonder how good this film could've been with Jackson in the lead role.

The final act goes a little haywire, with far too many brawls, chases, and a fight scene that's ripped almost completely from Friday. At times it gets a little difficult to tell what kind of tone they're aiming for, as a number of the meaner characters don't really play as funny in any way. They're just violent. They clash with the mostly light hearted feel I think director Erik White was shooting for.

The message at the end about giving back and never forgetting the community that raised you comes off as a little corny, but it means well. Lottery Ticket isn't looking to break new ground, so heaping all sorts of responsibility on it isn't fair. What it aims for, it does mostly right. It's not perfect, but it's funny enough that you won't feel like a lotto loser if you check it out.