Fresh and Exciting

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

That's right look at the title. That's exactly what the producer said when he finished this movie. It's like when just made the most fabulous cake and instead putting a cherry on top of it you put a big dump.The most messed up thing is: this producer thinks that people will still remove the top and eat the rest of it. One last aspect is how the producer tried to cover all your rational options with aspects that have 1% of happening IN ONE SINGLE NIGHT. «««««««««««««SPOILERS SECTION»»»»»»»»»»»»»»»-Main actor nervous to conceal a lie? -He is getting engaged! that will do. -Gets the wallet and leaves? -Close the building nobody gets out!-Hello Mr officer come on In to my private property! -Let's gamble lottery tickets because we are not all that broke to gamble real money.Bring me a math equation to understand how a phone call to person A Brings person B without any knowledge from A. Oh boy if I had that winning lottery ticket and asked the pope to pick it up he would have to let me know every 5 min. (oh yeah wife calls) legit!...not But yes every possible turn that this movie takes looks so forced that hurts to watch. There is nothing natural in this film, every irrational turn this movie takes is covered up by some backup master plan that exists only inside the producers head. 15 years later somebody made me watch this and I think... how Ryan Reynolds didn't laugh at the script back then?

Tepper (Erik Palladino) finds a wallet in the streets. He's a caring guy who looks out for his elderly neighbor and about to propose to girlfriend Carla (Carly Pope). He calls Victor from a phone number in the wallet that belongs to Avery Phillips. Then he discovers that the wallet holds a $6 million lottery winner. It is the weekly poker night with Fishman (Matthew Lillard), Quigley (Ryan Reynolds) and Bolan (Dash Mihok). It is tradition to bet their lottery tickets and not check the numbers before hand. Tepper hopes that nobody comes for the wallet but then Avery Phillips (James Earl Jones) comes by. He decides to return the wallet but switch out the lottery ticket. Then the police locked down the apartment looking for a fugitive.The twist is flashing like a neon sign. So much so that it gets annoying. For the second half of the movie, I had great hopes that Jeff Probst would be smart enough not to do it. It would be a nod to fake out the usual twist but he falls right into the pitfall. This works a lot better as a moral dilemma which is destroyed. When Quigley makes that turn, the movie seems to figure it out. It just makes it so disappointing to lose it at the last moment.There are other problems. I don't know why Tepper switched the tickets. It solves nothing and assumes that Avery doesn't know the number he purchased. It makes no sense. If he just takes the ticket, it can always be explained as being stolen by somebody else. The game itself poses other problems. It feels more like a constructed premise although I must admit that I don't have another premise without a complete overhaul. It's just too fake. Why wouldn't they play before the draw? These two problem can be excused but the last 5 seconds cannot be.

I talk about with my ex-fiancée how I enjoyed and used to go see movies and know there would be some good ones in the mix of what I saw at the theaters but for one and a half years it has been horrid but luckily while sitting at home late at night I caught much of the latter half of this movie. It is definitely worth a rental for someone and what is even better is that if there is some sort of special edition with Jeff Proebst talking about the movie he made well that would definitely be interesting. I wish the guy would show some guts and dump the money maker that is Survivor ,which is now only interesting if you are on the show, and make another movie. I think that attempt shows he has the talent to make something else. It was a real nice surprise to see that kind of ending and also a nice surprise to be shocked at who wrote and directed the movie.

i first saw a few minutes of this movie before my vacation and i must say i loved it i mean that is my kind a movie. plus an all star cast i have also been a fan of matthew lillard and erik palladino for quite some time but now i seen it all the way through and i must say it is worth seeing. the suspense and the acting is all really good also. i actually never even heard of this movie until i saw it on my digital cable lineup. i like erik palladino's character because he is generous and quiet like me. plus he is so sweet to everybody. matthew lillard has also always been a favorite of mine he's great in all his movies as well. and anything with james earl jones is a great movie