| Original Score: B | Feb 18, 2012

No doubt the characters are stereotypes, but the performances are handled with a knowing wink and a great deal of fun.

| Dec 20, 2010

There are enough stereotypes in here to get Dr. Laura frothing at the mouth -- and enough menace to merit co-writing credit for the Hughes brothers.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 24, 2010

It all comes off a bit like an extended episode of "Everybody Hates Chris" with really bad language.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 20, 2010

The very likable young leads salvage this broad comedy from complete disaster but you know you're in trouble when Bow Wow is the best thing about a movie.

| Aug 20, 2010

A 'hood comedy with heart.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 20, 2010

Let's call it four out of six numbers, with no power bonus. Some payoff, but don't quit your job.

| Original Score: C+ | Aug 20, 2010

...a film that's largely wealthy in incoherence, raising a smile one minute and a cringe the next, until it finally devolves into a 'who-cares' cliché-fest.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 20, 2010

A jumble of comedy and drama with a sprinkling of After School Special messaging and some head-scratchingly bad choices.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 20, 2010

There's a one-in-a-billion story to Lottery Ticket: Those are the approximate odds against a script this bad making it out of the introductory seminar at film school.

| Original Score: 0.5/4 | Aug 20, 2010

Though the movie looks good and rarely lags on energy, the careless script is filled with tired stereotypes and easy clichés.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 20, 2010

Erik White and Abdul Williams don't reinvent the wheel of fortune in Lottery Ticket, but the director and screenwriter, respectively, deliver a well-plotted, energetically paced story.

| Aug 20, 2010

A big, vivid supporting cast - including Faheem Najm (a k a the rapper T-Pain) and the comedians Charlie Murphy and Mike Epps - is a strong asset, as are messages about sexual responsibility and charity in the 'hood.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 20, 2010

This genial little fairy tale of a comedy gives us a likable hero and an irresistible fantasy.

| Original Score: B | Aug 19, 2010

White slips the noose around his film's neck with such startling speed it's dead long before I even realized oxygen wasn't getting to its brain.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Aug 19, 2010

If any of the central characters in Lottery Ticket had a bit of sense, the movie would be over in about five minutes.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 19, 2010

The comedy is broad, bordering on offensive, the laughs are few, and the positive message feels tacked on.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 19, 2010

Like Kevin's lucky fortune cookie, Lottery Ticket is a sweet treat with a substantive message.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 19, 2010

White and writer Abdul Williams are determined to squeeze in some social commentary. And while this, too, is mostly familiar stuff, a couple of bits do resonate.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 19, 2010

A formulaic comedy that's enlivened by the high spirits of its supporting players.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 19, 2010