It’s currently the No. 1 movie on Prime Video after its straight to streaming release this past week.
John Cena and Awkwafina team up in the new action comedy “Jackpot!” by Amazon MGM Studios.
Originally titled “Grand Theft Lotto” (a better title actually), the film is set in the near future of 2030 Los Angeles where California has created a Grand Lottery where the losing ticket holders have until sundown to kill the winner and claim the prize. There’s just one catch: no guns allowed. When former child actor Katie (Awkwafina) wins the $3.6 billion lottery, she enlists the protection of Noel Cassidy (Cena) for the low cost of 10% of her winnings.
Cena has quickly rivaled Hulk Hogan, The Rock and Dave Bautista as the biggest crossover stars from WWE to Hollywood. He first showed his big-screen comedy chops in Judd Apatow’s “Trainwreck” (2015), followed by “Daddy’s Home” (2015), “Blockers” (2018), “Playing with Fire” (2019), “Vacation Friends” (2021) and “Barbie” (2023), not to mention hilariously “streaking” at the Oscars in a show-stealing segment earlier this year.
In “Jackpot!” he plays a super nice guy, like the absolute nicest, like one of the most benevolent characters you’ll ever see, a persona that clicks considering Cena in real life holds the record for granting the most requests by the Make a Wish Foundation. He is beloved inside and outside of the ring, which is why folks can’t wait for his WWE retirement run on Netflix in 2025, hopefully trying to break Ric Flair’s record to become a 17-time world champ.
Cena’s earnestness is juxtaposed with the delightfully sarcastic Awkwafina, who burst onto the mainstream movie scene with the one-two punch of “Ocean’s 8” (2018) and “Crazy Rich Asians” (2018). After her deserving Golden Globe win for the indie dramedy “The Farewell” (2019), she’s become a blockbuster star from the animated hit “Raya & The Last Dragon” (2021) to the superhero smash “Shang-Chi & The Legend of the Ten Rings” (2021).
Here, she reunites with “Shang-Chi” co-star Simu Liu, who charges 30% for high-tech protection. The supporting cast also includes Ayden Mayeri (“The Afterparty”) as a crappy Airbnb host, Leslie David Baker (“The Office”) as a wax-museum owner, Seann William Scott (“American Pie”) as a lotto winner, Dolly De Leon (“Triangle of Sadness”) as an assailant, and rapper Machine Gun Kelly as himself (I laughed when Awkwafina called him “Mr. Gun Kelly”).
It’s all directed by Paul Feig, the Emmy-nominated creator of NBC’s teen cult classic “Freaks and Geeks” (1999) who directed some of your favorite episodes of “Arrested Development,” “Weeds,” “The Office” and “Nurse Jackie.” Today, he’s best known for is big-screen comedy collaborations with the hilarious Melissa McCarthy on “Bridesmaids” (2011), “The Heat” (2013), “Spy” (2015) and the female reboot of “Ghostbusters” (2016).
This time he’s not working from a laugh-out-loud script like Kristen Wiig’s Oscar-caliber “Bridesmaids.” Instead, “Jackpot!” screenwriter Rob Yescombe has largely written for video games like “The Invisible Hours” (2017). Still, it has its amusingly funny moments, which seem like improvised quips by Cena or Awkwafina, who crack up during an extended blooper montage during the end credits before a pointless post-credits scene with Johnny Grand.
As for the deliciously high concept, it’s hard to give “Jackpot!” too much credit because we just saw a similar premise on Hulu earlier this year in “Self Reliance” (2024) as Jake Johnson tried to survive 30 days being hunted by killers to win a game-show prize. The best lottery movie in recent years remains “Jerry and Marge Go Large” (2022) starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening in one of the most underrated flicks of the past five years.
If you haven’t seen that — or this year’s funniest comedy “Thelma” — check those out first. Then you can feel free to pop on “Jackpot!,” the type of action comedy that you’re glad you watched on streaming for a mindless date night rather than spend money at the theater. It’s the Prime Video equivalent of Apple TV’s “The Instigators” starring Matt Damon and Casey Affleck. They’re fine, kind of funny, but nothing we’ll remember in five years.
If you don’t have Prime, Cena will shrug and say, “You can’t see me.” See? Comedy is a tricky business because everyone’s sense of humor is so different. If you’re a comedy filmmaker, you can’t stay on the sidelines afraid to make a joke, you’ve gotta get in there and give it a shot. You can’t be afraid to take a crack at cracking us up, so I applaud any big swing trying to win the “Jackpot!” As the lotto saying goes, “You’ve gotta play to win.”
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
