This was "Friday" with a different theme. It took place in the 'hood with a whole cast of characters trying their best to be funny, except "Friday" was actually funny. Benny (Brandon T. Jackson) was your Chris Tucker. Kevin (Bow Wow) was your Ice Cube. Lorenzo Mack (Gbenga Akinnagbe) was your Deebo. Stacie (Naturi Naughton) was your Nia Long. Sweet Tee (Keith David) was your Faizon Love. Mr. Washington (Ice Cube) was your John Witherspoon. They even used the "knocked TF out" line. Just like "Friday" they threw in a slew of funny actors in hopes that there would be abundant laughs. If there was one thing good about "Lottery Ticket" is that it showed what could happen if you live in the 'hood and win the lottery.

So what was it about? A high school graduate named Kevin won $370M in the lottery, but he couldn't claim his prize for three days because it was the July 4th weekend. All he needed to do was keep his winning a secret so he could live through the weekend and submit the ticket. When his grandmother (Loretta Devine) told the local gossip (Charlie Murphy) about the winning ticket, the whole 'hood knew and things would never again be the same for Kevin.

This movie failed to generate any laughs. Even your normally reliable funny characters such as Mike Epps and Charlie Murphy were handcuffed by the weak plot and even weaker script. Maybe this movie would've been a dud no matter what, but I feel like it would've been so much better if it wasn't a "Friday" wannabe.

Talk about clichés in motion pictures. This picture is just another example. The black youth being raised by a stern, but cunning grandmother, nicely played by Loretta Devine.

He has a lottery ticket worth $370 million at his disposal. Naturally, greed enters the situation.

We see the slums among the African Americans. They also want a piece of the pie.

Naturally, there are the troublemakers that want the money. We see the attempt at an African American teen attempting to be an entrepreneur which is good, but we have seen this over and over.

Bow Wow has proved time and time again to be a charming performer from movies like Johnson Family Vacation to a starring role in Like Mike. In Lottery Ticket, he proves it again, playing Kevin, a foot locker employee who wins the lottery much to the surprise (and delight) of the whole town. That said, Lottery Ticket is a hit (and mostly) miss attempt at trying to make Friday for a new generation. The cast including Loretta Divine, Mike Epps, Brandon T. Jackson, Terry Crews, Keith David and Ice Cube is so charming that it's disappointing that this film doesn't perform the magic it should. There's some moments of really sharp humor in this film, and you will laugh for about 30% of this film, but 30% of a film compared to a $10 ticket just doesn't balance out. The film especially loses edge when it gets cloyingly and unnecessarily sappy and sentimental. That said, these moments of sharp humor made me not completely hate the film. It has those moments where I realized this could have been a very funny film and I respect that. See it if you were planning to see it, but if you weren't there's really no reason to see it.