Genre: Comedy
Directed by: Erik White
Starring: Bow Wow, Brandon T. Jackson, Naturi Naughton, Loretta Devine, Ice Cube, Gbenga Akinnagbe
Released: August 20, 2010
The movie is a story about a young man named Kevin. Kevin lives with his grandmother (Loretta Devine) in the projects and wins $370 million in a nationwide lottery. The story primarily revolves around the wild 4th of July weekend he has trying to hold on to the ticket in order to claim the prize in 3 days from discovering that he has won, and the people around him who are happy for him or have more selfish plans in mind.
Loved:
Brandon T. Jackson: I didn’t really mind the guy as he was seemingly the most competent actor out of those that were starring. It was appreciable to see that someone could actually portray a somewhat believable character and he did this in a way that really brought a bright spot to the movie for me. “At least this guy is good” was repeated in my head throughout the 2nd half of the movie.
Charlie Murphy. He doesn’t have a big role in the movie, but his appearances are well appreciated and often funny to help liven up the movie.
Hated:
Bow Wow. Every time he was on the screen I cringed. He is one of the prime examples and reasons why I don’t believe most musicians can cross over into acting. He is terrible.
Terry Crews. I actually kinda like the guy but he always seems to play the same role of some type of homosexual aggressive black person. Every movie. And to top it all off his character gets beat up and loses whatever semblance of machismo that he may have had in this movie.
The dialogue and characters. Everything is corny and exaggerated and almost completely unbelievable. I understand that this is a comedy but I find it completely impossible to believe that people in the projects just are so damn chipper and altruistic for Kevin winning the lottery. I would have to believe that they would have some reason why they would want some of the winnings and pursue that rather than hiding and protecting him from losing his winning ticket.
Brandon T Jackson: I didn’t really mind the guy, but he apparently mimicked the character “Smokey” from Friday and played him throughout the movie. It’s not that he did a bad job, but it was almost too good a job because it was so blatantly a copy of a character from another movie. And he seemed like a younger smokey, but he’s no Chris Tucker. If he tried this in some kinda prequel to Friday he’d be spot on!
Overall:
the movie isn’t the greatest. I wouldn’t recommend it to many people to see unless they absolutlely have nothing better to watch and they don’t have to pay for it unless you find it at a DVD store that is going out of business and you buy it at a ridiculously discounted price. Ice Cube is almost forgettable in this movie, as was Mike Epps in the most “if you blink you missed me” cameo that actually received a name on the cover as “starring” in history. If you happen to get this as a Christmas gift, I suggest you re-gift it because this movie will undoubtedly be in heavy rotation on BET once they get the opportunity.
2010 Trailer:
I understand the the internet has opened doors for all to give thier opinion, but with all do respect, yours SUCKED!! What is “unbelievable” is how you (who has probably never lived in the projects) could make a remark about how those living in the projects could not be happy for someone elses good fortune.
As far as “exaggerated”, its a comedy and thats what they are….. “EXAGGERATED”
I must say I do agree with your opionion of Terry Crews, but thats about all I agree with. Overall, I thought the movie was funny.
Hey TR, thanks for the comment!! and welcome to Goosenips!
As far as my opinion on how certain aspects of the projects weren’t believable… it stands! I spent many years living in NYC projects in my life and the idea that such a disproportionate amount of tenants were altruistically motivated to support Kevin in this movie was a frequent disconnect for me.
I certainly respect your opinion and understand that the movie is borderline satirical with its exaggeration, but I ultimately did not enjoy this film as much as hoped. I’m more of a ‘Friday’ guy and less Lottery Ticket.