State
lotteries are often called a tax on stupidity. Evidently they are quite a hard
sell in Vietnam, but peddling them is the only work a naïve single mother can
find. However, it seems like Thom’s tickets have an unusually high chance of
winning. Naturally, that only leads to trouble in Dustin Nguyen’s Jackpot (trailer here), which screens
during the 2015 edition of New Vietnamese Cinema at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
Thom
is sweet as she can be, but she has a hard time providing for her young
daughter. Her ex-husband is not totally out of the picture, but his new wife is
definitely the jealous type. Fortunately, Tu Nghia will always buy a set of
tickets when she most needs help (even though his sensible wife usually
protests), while Ba Muoi provides day care on credit. The older woman’s conman husband
Tu Phi has just been released from prison, but she is hardly thrilled to see
him. Yet, Thom will broker a rapprochement between them. Soon, they settle in
rather peacefully together. In fact, when she discovers she has purchased a big
winner from Thom, she allows the old fast-talker to claim it as his own.
In
retrospect, this will be a mistake. True to form, as soon as Tu Phi feels some
money in his pockets, he starts making bad decisions and falling in with the
wrong crowd. Frankly, a sudden windfall might make matters worse rather than
better for all involved (not so subtle take-away warning). Yet, just as things
look desperate for Thom and her extended family, providence might just provide
again.
Vietnamese-American
expat Nguyen will be recognizable to some for his TV work as a cast-member on 21 Jump Street and V.I.P., but he has since reinvented his career as Vietnam’s top
box-office draw. Rather logically, in addition to directing, he also appears in
Jackpot, as the rugged, salt-of-the-earth
farmer, Tu Nghia. However, there is no question Ninh Duong Lan Ngoc outshines
everyone and everything as the earnest Thom. There is something refreshing
about her guilelessness and indomitably sunny disposition. However, as Tu Phi,
the old reprobate, a little of Chi Tai’s shtick goes a long way. Similarly, the
less said about Thom’s man-stealing rival, the better.
Jackpot definitely extolls
the value of provincial village life and discourages capital accumulation,
which surely pleased the current regime. Still, there is nothing inherently
wrong with celebrating community and compassion. Despite his more
action-oriented resume, Nguyen displays a light, skillful touch for comedic
fare. As a result, American audiences will probably relate to it more easily
than the broad, slapsticky Lost in
Thailand franchise. Rather enjoyable in an old fashioned way, thanks in
large measure to the radiant Ninh Duong, Jackpot
is recommended for fans of light comedy when it screens this coming Sunday
(7/5) and Tuesday (7/7), as part of New Vietnamese Cinema at the Honolulu
Museum of Art, one of the country’s leading venues for Asian cinema.
