No movie springs from a vacuum. There are always influences from past examples of the genre, from the previous work of the filmmakers and stars, even from similar films that don’t quite work. If you want to understand where a movie is coming from, take a look at where it’s coming from.
In Lottery Ticket, Bow Wow’s poor but nice ghetto kid wins a mega lottery but must protect the ticket from his greedy friends and neighbors over a long holiday weekend. This flick sprang from (among other films):
• It Could Happen to You (1994), in which Nicolas Cage’s cop and Bridget Fonda’s waitress split of lottery win, causing all sorts of complications in their lives.
• Waking Ned Devine (1998), in which a small Irish town tries to hide the fact that a local man died of shock when he learned he won the lottery, so they can share his winnings among themselves.
• Friday (1995), an earlier story of the money woes of poor inner-city folk, about a couple of guys who own money to a drug dealer… or else. (Ticket star Ice Cube also appears.)
• All About the Benjamins (2002), which also features a tussle over a winning lottery ticket, as well as Ticket stars Bow Wow, Ice Cube, and Mike Epps.
Where to buy:
All About the Benjamins [Region 1/U.S.] [Region 1/Can.] [Region 2]
Friday [Region 1/U.S.] [Region 1/Can.] [Region 2]
It Could Happen to You [Region 1/U.S.] [Region 1/Can.] [Region 2]
Waking Ned Devine [Region 1/U.S.] [Region 1/Can.] [Region 2]
