Lotto Land
Directed and written by John Rubino
1995, USA
We all have that moment’s thought when we buy a lotto ticket, where we imagine what a jackpot win could do for us. A big enough win could ensure that we never have to work again, for example, and live a life of luxury. For many people, a potential lotto win represents an escape from the life they currently have.
Directed by John Rubino, the movie Lotto Land (1995) tells the story of four people living in a poor neighbourhood of Brooklyn, set against the backdrop of a unclaimed lottery ticket that has been sold in the local store and has a $27 million prize attached to it. Don’t confuse the name of the film with the Lottoland website, which now sells tickets online for six different lotteries.
Lawrence Gilliard Jr plays a lovestruck teenager called Hank; he’s fallen in love with a Latino girl called Joy (Barbara Gonzalez) who is about to go off to college with a full scholarship. Meanwhile Hank’s dad, Milt (Wendell Holmes) has started a relationship with Florence (Suzanne Costallos) – Joy’s adoptive Italian-American mom.
The two love stories are interwoven and there are some farcical moments with different lovers sneaking in and out of windows and down fire escapes so as not to be found out. The link that ties all the different stories together is the fact that Hank aspires to win the lottery so that he can escape the almost inevitability of joining a local gang.
Tension mounts when it’s discovered that the as yet unclaimed winning lottery ticket has been sold in the local neighbourhood store and will lead to a prize that will change the winner’s life forever.
Florence works in the store where the ticket was sold, as does Hank. Members of the local community wonder who might have the ticket – will it be Florence or Joy, Hank or Milt, or the local drunk Papi, who also happens to be Joy’s biological father?
Of course, we can’t tell you.. .you’ll have to watch the film for yourself to find out if any of the main protagonists turns out to be the lucky one.