Jackpot

Jackpot (2001) is a buddy road trip film about a wannabee country singer (Jon Gries) who abandons his wife (Daryl Hannah) and young child, steals her pink New Yorker, and heads off on a tour with his manager (Garrett Morris) to become rich and famous by winning Karaoke contests all across the country. While he is not a terrible singer and wins a few contests, the two are broke and struggling most of the time. Gries is something of a ladies man, and his wife wants her car back, and child support.

NUDITY REPORT

see the main commentary

DVD info from Amazon.

Widescreen anamorphic, 1.85:1
Full-length director commentary

The film is a zero budget effort from the Polish brothers, Mark and Michael (Twin Falls Idaho). It has many funny moments, but suffers from pace problems in many of the scenes. The humor is sometimes physical, and even resorts to fart jokes and putting a fly in your food to avoid paying for the meal, but is mostly watchable. Daryl Hannah looked great, and shows a lot of cleavage, as does Crystal Bernard. The closest to exposure is from Camillia Clouse, who is wearing what we used to call "beaver cheaters" (find someone who remembers the 60s and ask them) and a tight top, as she tries to seduce Gries. He starts having second thoughts when she asks him to sign her yearbook, but it is not until she starts blowing on his crotch, thinking that is how to give a blow job, that his conscience gets the better of him. We can see her nipple through the top, and there are several pokies. Mostly though, I just like the cute nightclothes.

The Critics Vote

Ebert 2/4,
Rotten Tomatoes summary. One of the worst of the year. 20% good reviews, 14% from the top group.

The People Vote ...

With their votes ... IMDB summary: IMDb voters score it 5.8

IMDb guideline: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence, about like three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, about like two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, about like two stars from the critics. Films under five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film, equivalent to about one and a half stars from the critics or less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

My own guideline: A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre. B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. C means it will only appeal to genre addicts, and has no crossover appeal. D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre. F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

Based on this description, this film is a C-. Despite its directing mis-steps, the film is watchable.