‘Jackpot!’ Review

Paul Feig, the director of "Bridesmaids," attempts to rectify the film's larger script issues, but he is unable to helm an action comedy where the action is genuinely humorous.

Action comedy has a relatively low ceiling; the genre's greatest hits typically feature wisecracks from former "Saturday Night Live" cast members interspersed with apathetic shootouts. Director Paul Feig breaks from tradition with his first film for Prime Video, "Jackpot!", creating action-packed set pieces that are hilarious in and of themselves. That could be anything from the sight of ex-wrestler John Cena facing off against a room full of black belts with the "Crazy Rich Asians" breakout strapped to his back, to Awkwafina hiding out among the tacky Hollywood museum's wax figures.

Why are attempts being made on Awkwafina's life? "Jackpot!" challenges viewers to accept an ingenious but frequently nonsensical theory concerning a drastic overhaul of the California lottery's regulations. In 2030, there is a cost associated with the winning ticket: You only get to keep the money if you can make it to dusk. While this is going on, the winners have to navigate an unofficial Hunger Games through the streets of Los Angeles, where their winnings double as a kind of bounty given to the first person to kill them.

I don't mean to belittle Rob Yescombe, who was recognized as one of Variety's Screenwriters to Watch the previous year, but that concept is about the best he could do with a shoddy screenplay that is otherwise supported by the cast's improv and some surprisingly humorous fight scenes. Seann William Scott, the day's winner, is shown by Feig attempting to elude an avaricious mob, demonstrating how the state's win-lose-or-die lottery operates from the very beginning. It is difficult to accept that Awkwafina is unaware of what is happening when her number is drawn because the rules appear to be fairly simple.

As Katie Kim, a former child actor who isn't thrilled about having to perform again but has no other option after her unpaid stage dad took off with all of her earnings, the comic plays it equally as aloof and naive. She finds the winning ticket in her pocket during her first, hilariously embarrassing audition, accidentally presses the button with her thumb, and the next thing she knows, she's an instant celebrity, the most valuable person in all of L.A.

Fortunately for her, Noel (Cena), a freelance bodyguard, breaks through the wall like a ripped Kool-Aid Man and begins to smack people. He's the futuristic version of an ambulance-chasing attorney, and he's a great ally in assisting Katie in evading her "fans" (as the film refers to them). As it happens, not everyone wishes to murder her. However, this guy demands a 10% commission, just like any reputable talent agent.

"Jackpot!" has hints of a sharper Hollywood satire throughout, as though Yescombe, Feig, or someone else along the line intended to poke fun at Americans' fixation with wealth and celebrity. Interestingly enough, Katie isn't interested either. Instead of purchasing the ticket, she discovered it in a borrowed pair of sweatpants with gold lamé. Even more bizarrely, the film appears to have adopted the term "weird" at the same time that vice presidential candidate Tim Walz popularized it, giving some of the film's less effective jokes an unanticipated depth.

The physical humor in "Jackpot!" is more difficult than Awkwafina has ever been asked to perform, and while her character is meant to come across as clumsy and inept, action choreographer James Young's routines for her require a great deal of skill to pull off. Given his history with the WWE, Cena is far more used to making fictitious fighting seem entertaining, but he once again demonstrates his good-natured sense of humor—as demonstrated by the scene-stealer in "Ricky Stanicky" earlier this year.

Feig made comedy gold thirteen years ago with the Judd Apatow-produced film "Bridesmaids," but since then, he has been erratic in his attempts to break into other genres (most recently, with the YA fantasy bomb "The School for Good and Evil"). "Jackpot!", which falls comfortably between "The Heat" and the 2016 reboot of "Ghostbusters," features the stylish director right in his element, borrowing some of the brilliant screenplay techniques from "Bridesmaids," but without the film's underlying relatability.

Of those strategies, the most obvious one is casting, which he leaves to his secret weapon, Allison Jones, who has been finding funny people for him and Apatow since "Freaks & Geeks." (Jones was the one who included Melissa McCarthy and Seth Rogen.) Here, she presents the group with six hilarious, diverse supporting comics, ranging from the homicidal and insensitive Airbnb host of Katie (Ayden Mayeri) to the dubious Lottery Protection Agency chief (Simu Liu), who is trying to embezzle Noel's fee for himself. She even brings in Machine Gun Kelly, who plays a self-deprecating good sport in a role fit for a panic room.

There are many twists in the "Jackpot!" script, very few of which will surprise you, so why reveal them here? That places pressure on Awkwafina and company's ability to deliver powerful scenes in the interim. Although the end credits of "Jackpot!" are filled with outtakes, it's one of those films where you can tell the actors tried dozens of jokes and the editor chose the best ones. In a way, given how much the movie also depends on improvisation, it makes sense that Katie's ability to think quickly is essential to her survival. That particular ability has the potential to make Awkwafina a multimillionaire.