Jackpot: A Hilarious Action Comedy in the Midst of Economic Crisis
In the throes of an economic downturn, the California government launches a high-stakes lottery. The rules are simple: the jackpot can be claimed by the legal winner, or by anyone who can eliminate them before sunset, sans firearms. Aspiring actress Katie (Awkwafina) arrives in Los Angeles for an audition. After a series of unfortunate events, she stumbles upon the winning ticket with a record-breaking jackpot of over three billion dollars. Instantly, Katie becomes a target for anyone willing to spill blood for money. To survive until sunset, she hires Noel (John Cena), a freelance bodyguard who guarantees protection for a small percentage of the winnings.
Awkwafina as Katie in “Jackpot!”
Katie’s misadventures begin even before the entire city turns against her. The struggling actress is first greeted by overflowing sewage and the condescending gazes of the film industry elite. In a way, “Jackpot!” mirrors its protagonist’s fate: a modest underdog with no pretensions to high art, collectively targeted by Western reviewers. Witnessing the largely undeserved criticism, one can’t help but feel like taking a page from John Cena’s character: defending someone everyone wants to destroy.
John Cena as Noel in “Jackpot!”
Is “Jackpot!” Worth the Hype?
While the film’s script isn’t exactly intellectual, attempting to seriously analyze the plot logic of a streaming comedy action movie seems like a cheap shot. Launching scathing epithets at an action-comedy that doesn’t reach for the stars feels excessive. There’s no reasonable justification for calling Paul Feig’s new film “the worst comedy of the decade” or a “failure on all levels.”
John Cena as Noel in “Jackpot!”
Let’s start with the fact that “Jackpot!” doesn’t deceive anyone and delivers exactly what it promises. The comedy action movie fully lives up to its genre: one hundred minutes of pure entertainment for a fun time. The film doesn’t offer viewers serious reflections on the state of the global economy and treats the metaphor of the consequences of sudden fame lightly. With enough desire, both could have been developed into a full-fledged auteur statement, but that wasn’t the creators’ goal. The simple plot is compensated by inventively staged fights and mostly amusing improvisational jokes. Most importantly, you don’t want to turn off the film halfway through – a great achievement for a streaming service product.
Paul Feig’s Signature Style
“Jackpot!” is exactly the type of comedy you’d expect from the director of “Bridesmaids,” “The Heat,” and “Spy.” Paul Feig didn’t invent anything fundamentally new, but took the ready-made formula of his last hit and transferred it to the script of the new film. Parallels between “Spy” and “Jackpot!” are easily traced: the handsome guy dies first (or almost dies) (instead of the charming Jude Law, the brutal Seann William Scott), the plot revolves around a loser who unexpectedly finds herself in the spotlight (Melissa McCarthy is replaced by Awkwafina), a action star appears in an ironic role (now it’s not Jason Statham who’s fooling around, but John Cena), a famous rapper is involved as a cameo, playing a quirky version of himself (50 Cent is replaced by Machine Gun Kelly). Some things work, some things don’t, but in any case, you don’t have to be bored.
In theory, “Jackpot!” could have joined the list of Paul Feig’s best comedies, but the success of past hits was largely guaranteed by Melissa McCarthy. Without her acting charisma, it turned out noticeably weaker. And if Cena can still compete with Statham (a similar scene with the hero listing absurd facts about himself has meme potential), then Awkwafina’s improvisational abilities are still much inferior to McCarthy’s comedic talents. Fortunately, the actors are not without self-irony. In “Jackpot!” among other things, a funny meta-commentary is voiced that anyone can act now, since even “fucking wrestlers and YouTubers have become movie stars.” Of course, not all the jokes in the film hit the mark as clearly, but there is still something to laugh about. In principle, nothing more is required from a streaming comedy.