Jackpot

Rating:
Summary: Immature work
Review: The only reason why I watched this movie was because I was so impressed with the Polish brothers' "Twin Falls Idaho," but this movie really disappointed me.
The first hour started out so so but had some tiny potential for getting better. It had an interesting premise, a karoake want to be singer traveling on the road with his sidekick. But then something happened completely frivolous to the plot. He meets a teenage Lolita type character for a few painful minutes. The Polish brothers just had to let this into have their fun. This isn't a serious Nabokov study and doesn't help the movie at all, easily could have been written out.

Rating:
Summary: American Idol
Review: This movie is the "Five Easy Pieces" of our time. Except that Jackpot was shot in 15 days and for 400k (budget from commentary track) which gives it a brilliant Cassevetes feel. What I love about this film is that it really depicts a regular guy trying to become a singer, this is so American Idol! Maybe the contestants on that show can watch "Jackpot" and see where they are all going to end up... selling soap door to door.

Rating:
Summary: Hated It
Review: Too many cuss words, and an improbable plot made this movie a complete waste of time. Don't torture yourself. Watch Scotland, Pa instead, if you want to see a smart little off-the-beat movie.

Rating:
Summary: Hated It
Review: Too many cuss words, and an improbable plot made this movie a complete waste of time. Don't torture yourself. Watch Scotland, Pa instead, if you want to see a smart little off-the-beat movie.

Rating:
Summary: A Character study
Review: with some karoake thrown in.
I saw "Twin Falls Idaho", and The Polish brothers have certainly got their own brand of film. "Jackpot" is their sophmoric effort, and it is just visually stunning. Great cinematography!
Jon Gries plays "Sunny Holiday", a drifter type who wants to become a professional singer. He is married to the foul mouthed Daryl Hannah, and they have a little girl. He leaves them to embark on his journey to Karoake bars, but he is also on a journey of self discovery. He meets a lot of people along the way, and there is some fine supporting acting. This film is definitely in the "road movie" category. The movie itself is more of a character study than plot driven. The character isn't entirely sympathetic. At times, you almost want to hate him. I don't think we are supposed to like Sunny, but he gets under your skin.
He does the karoake thing to get the practice, and meets up with SNL original cast member, Garrett Morris. Morris becomes his manager, and they are very good team. They were both excellent in this little, unknown and somewhat likeable movie.
The Karoake scenes were all pretty entertaining. He did have a decent voice which sounded better when crooning country songs. This movie is very different from the other karoake movie, "Duets", although I did like that movie better than this one.
This movie was an original, but what it has in originality doesn't make up for the awful ending. It just really disappointed me and my husband, especially since we had really liked it up until that point. It is as if they just ran out of time or film.
"Duets" is much lighter than this, this is a bit more serious but much better acted..you decide. Better still, they are both decent movies, and I think it's fun to watch celebs do Karoake.

Eileen Famiglietti

Rating:
Summary: A Character study
Review: with some karoake thrown in.
I saw "Twin Falls Idaho", and The Polish brothers have certainly got their own brand of film. "Jackpot" is their sophmoric effort, and it is just visually stunning. Great cinematography!
Jon Gries plays "Sunny Holiday", a drifter type who wants to become a professional singer. He is married to the foul mouthed Daryl Hannah, and they have a little girl. He leaves them to embark on his journey to Karoake bars, but he is also on a journey of self discovery. He meets a lot of people along the way, and there is some fine supporting acting. This film is definitely in the "road movie" category. The movie itself is more of a character study than plot driven. The character isn't entirely sympathetic. At times, you almost want to hate him. I don't think we are supposed to like Sunny, but he gets under your skin.
He does the karoake thing to get the practice, and meets up with SNL original cast member, Garrett Morris. Morris becomes his manager, and they are very good team. They were both excellent in this little, unknown and somewhat likeable movie.
The Karoake scenes were all pretty entertaining. He did have a decent voice which sounded better when crooning country songs. This movie is very different from the other karoake movie, "Duets", although I did like that movie better than this one.
This movie was an original, but what it has in originality doesn't make up for the awful ending. It just really disappointed me and my husband, especially since we had really liked it up until that point. It is as if they just ran out of time or film.
"Duets" is much lighter than this, this is a bit more serious but much better acted..you decide. Better still, they are both decent movies, and I think it's fun to watch celebs do Karoake.

Eileen Famiglietti

Rating:
Summary: A Character study
Review: with some karoake thrown in.
I saw "Twin Falls Idaho", and The Polish brothers have certainly got their own brand of film. "Jackpot" is their sophmoric effort, and it is just visually stunning. Great cinematography!
Jon Gries plays "Sunny Holiday", a drifter type who wants to become a professional singer. He is married to the foul mouthed Daryl Hannah, and they have a little girl. He leaves them to embark on his journey to Karoake bars, but he is also on a journey of self discovery. He meets a lot of people along the way, and there is some fine supporting acting. This film is definitely in the "road movie" category. The movie itself is more of a character study than plot driven. The character isn't entirely sympathetic. At times, you almost want to hate him. I don't think we are supposed to like Sunny, but he gets under your skin.
He does the karoake thing to get the practice, and meets up with SNL original cast member, Garrett Morris. Morris becomes his manager, and they are very good team. They were both excellent in this little, unknown and somewhat likeable movie.
The Karoake scenes were all pretty entertaining. He did have a decent voice which sounded better when crooning country songs. This movie is very different from the other karoake movie, "Duets", although I did like that movie better than this one.
This movie was an original, but what it has in originality doesn't make up for the awful ending. It just really disappointed me and my husband, especially since we had really liked it up until that point. It is as if they just ran out of time or film.
"Duets" is much lighter than this, this is a bit more serious but much better acted..you decide. Better still, they are both decent movies, and I think it's fun to watch celebs do Karoake.

Eileen Famiglietti