Amazon MGM’s newest action-comedy film, Jackpot!, stars Awkwafina and John Cena in what is one of the more unique concepts for a movie I’ve seen this year. In it, Awkwafina stars as Katie, a former child actress who’s returned to LA to become an actress. However, in this version of LA in the near future, a lottery has been established where the winner is able to be killed legally (without guns) up to sundown and the killer can claim the lottery prize. Kate inadvertently wins the biggest jackpot ever, 3.6 Billion Dollars, and enlists the help of Noel (John Cena), a professional jackpot winner bodyguard, to protect her.
And for such an interesting concept for a movie, I was surprised at how generically safe the movie is played out. There could’ve been some real risks taken to elevate this film above standard streaming fodder, but alas there wasn’t any. From the start you can see exactly how the film will play out. And it inevitably does almost scene by scene. Yes there are some wacky moments thrown in. But the overarching story is as basic as it comes.
I really appreciated how unique of a concept this is for a movie. And it was clear that director Paul Feig really wanted to lean into the wackiness of it. In that way, the film was fairly successful. The cinematography from John Schwartzman, who’s most famous for Jurassic World and The Amazing Spider-Man worked really well to capture the crazy fight sequences and set pieces. It was clear they didn’t take themselves too seriously, which works well.
I felt that Cena and Awkwafina worked fairly well together. I am a big fan of Cena’s work, especially as a comedic actor, and he delivers here. He employs a sort of deadpan style that I enjoyed. Awkwafina too was mostly good, and her constant disbelief in the pandemonium going on in the film serves it quite well. She also has a few one liners that work for me. Simu Liu is mostly fine as the villain in the story, but frankly it’s hard for me to see him playing a villain in the first place. He’s the type of actor that just has that “hero” look and feel to him and that’s incredibly difficult to shake.
But given all of that, I was incredibly surprised at how unfunny the majority of Jackpot! is. It’s not for a lack of effort, and writer Rob Yescombe certainly threw plenty of jokes at the wall. Feig even allowed for plenty of improvisation that comes through in post-credit bloopers. But for all the jokes, none of them are particularly funny. Had the writing been stronger, the film would have been much more successful.
Final Thoughts
Jackpot! had so much going for it at the start. The incredibly unique concept and two leads that seemed to work well together could’ve made for a surprise hit. But while the action was on par, the writing is truly what holds this movie back. It just wasn’t funny and that’s a real shame. You can pretty safely skip this one next time you’re scrolling on Amazon Prime.
