REVIEW: "Lottery Ticket" Is A Winner Minus The Money Ball

Lottery Ticket claims to be the next Friday. Only time will tell.

The movie is entertaining. As expected, there are several funny scenes. When Kevin Carson (Bow Wow) unexpectedly wins the lottery, his closest friend Benny (Brandon T. Jackson) and their associates provide plenty of humor for the situation. Kevin is the most unlikely person in the movie to win because he claims that he doesn't believe in it.

There are several other well-known comedians and actors in the movie who play the roles their typically known for: Kevin David (smooth older black man), Terry Crews (tough black guy that clowns around), Mike Epps (funny man), Loretta Devine (grandmother), and Charlie Murphy (loud mouth).

The moral message of the movie is provided by Kevin's friend Staci (Naturi Naughton) and Mr. Washington (Ice Cube). He's eventually reminded that you need to uplift your community when you get the opportunity (rappers who make a living by claiming a certain hood or zone need to take notes here).

The movie was shot in the Atlanta housing projects near Northside Dr. so there are several familiar scenes in the movie.

Lottery Ticket is the feature debut from longtime music video Erik White, who is the cousin of famed director Hype Williams.

Overall, the movie is good and it's worth going to see. I'm not sure if Lottery Ticket has a chance to be the next black classic, but it's definitely not Pootie Tang either!