Review of Lottery Ticket (2010) by Shiira — 23 Aug 2010

Kevin(Bow Wow) is a nice guy who has the misfortune of being born in the hood, where nice guys finish last, since nice guys don't join gangs and traffic in drugs. The gangbanger gets the hot girl; the nice guy gets the hot girl's dog poop.

The hot girl never gives Kevin a chance; he's a working stiff, a Foot Locker employee living the unglamorous life of an honest day's work. When the gangbanger arrives in his pimp-mobile, he tells Kevin, "You can't get no girl in a Foot Locker shirt.

" Word. Sitting in the passenger seat, the hot girl smirks at Kevin's nerve for approaching her, before they leave him by the curbside in a wake of car exhaust like a sucker. The hood is no place for a nice guy with a blue collar work ethic.

In theory, the hot girl will grow up to be just like one of those women in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" who pay homage, patronizingly, with faux remorse, to the bus driver, the garbageman, the man behind the deli counter; the "good men" who they would never give the time of day to.

Although "Lottery Ticket" means well, the film delivers a mixed message about the virtues of being honest. Kevin's co-worker, an older black man who plays the fool, a laughingstock, because he cares so much about his proletarian job, is portrayed as the guy you don't want to be.

It's better to be a crime boss(David Keith) than the assistant manager at a Foot Locker. For many young black men, basketball is their lottery ticket that gets them out of the ghetto, but here, the lottery ticket is the lottery ticket, since Kevin doesn't have hoop dreams, he has shoe dreams.

While there is talk about design school for Kevin, it's perfunctory talk. In a sense, the lottery ticket is a metaphor for sports, because Kevin isn't using his brains to escape the inner-city. The odds of picking the right lottery numbers is about the same as being a lottery pick in the NBA draft.

"Lottery Ticket" says no to education, no to a nine-to-five job, but yes to a pipe dream.