'Jackpot' review: John Cena’s futuristic comedy isn’t a winner

Courtesy of Amazon

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Part “The Purge,” and part “The Hunger Games,” director Paul Feig’s “Jackpot!” is a one-note satire that never captures the frenetic mad-dash energy it thinks it does. Feig, who between this and recent Netflix dud “The School for Good and Evil” is slowly losing the years of goodwill he built with mega hits “Bridesmaids,” “The Heat,” and “Spy,” can’t find the right tone for this R-rated comedy. Is it supposed to be a satirical take on society’s obsessions with greed and fame? An allegory for our tutulmus (and fractured) political landscape? Or just a broad comedy wherein John Cena screams things like “that made my dick hole hurt!” 

Writer Rob Yescombe obviously has an affection for “The Running Man,” and “Most Dangerous Game,” as his premise transports audiences to 2030, four years into the creation of what’s known as the “Grand Lottery,” a system in California wherein someone is chosen at random to be the winner of a major cash prize. There is one caveat: everyone knows who the winner is and everyone who plays the game can, in turn, hunt down that person, kill them (without guns and within an allotted time frame), and claim their multi-billion dollar winnings for themselves. The movie opens with a narration detailing how the creation of this lottery was in response to a great depression, despite the movie never mentioning or discussing that very important plot detail. 

It’s an easy elevator pitch, and when Kate (Awkwafina) arrives in LA to try and restart her acting career following the death of her mother, she inadvertently finds herself the “lucky” winner of the lottery and suddenly everyone within a thirty mile radius drops everything they're doing (be it, construction workers, police officers, doctors, food truck operators, you name it!) and turn into feral assassins on the prowl for John Wick. It really doesn’t make any sense. 

Feig, unfortunately, never establishes the rules of this universe and how normal, every-day people turn into savages and rabid murderers without flinching. The film also presents plenty of questions like: what if you just found an impenetrable underground fortress and camped out for the duration of the hunt? Then what? Wouldn’t that render this entire ordeal useless? The one interesting development the film does produce is a character named Noel (played by Cena, who continues giving the most effort in terrible movies), a security guard for hire who can guarantee your safety for a nominal percentage of your winnings. 

Yet, Feig and Yescombe don’t have the patience to let things build or ground themselves, while Awkwafina and Cena don’t necessarily make a winning combination, and the introduction of a shady business tycoon played by Simu Liu only complicates the lore of the world-building the filmmakers are trying to perpetuate. Worse? The sight gags and one liners (aside from one cameo and a Jodie Foster “Panic Room” joke) are painfully dull. It leaves you with a bitter aftertaste and a high concept premise that doesn’t deliver on its potential. 

Grade: D+ 

JACKPOT! Streams on Amazon Prime Video, Thursday August 15th.