Paul Feig, director, writer, producer and cameo-man extraordinaire, is a pretty interesting person to figure out. Trying to boil him down to his single favorite idea to put into a story, I’d be hard pressed to decide between straight up comedy and the nuances of how friendships can impact your day-to-day life.

As much as he claims to do films of many different genres, he basically does buddy comedies that happen to lean into other genres. “The Heat” is a buddy comedy cop movie, “Spy” is a buddy comedy spy spoof, “Ghostbusters” (2016) is a buddy comedy sci-fi movie, “A Simple Favor” is a buddy comedy suspense movie and “Last Christmas” is a buddy comedy romance movie.

The key to buddy comedies is having a dynamic pair of actors who can seem like buddies (at least by the end of the movie) and have a relationship that grows throughout the story. Feig is actually spectacular at this kind of development with his characters. Unfortunately, those characters are often mired in a surrounding storyline that is decidedly hit-or-miss for most fans.

We’ll take a look at Feig’s most recent buddy comedy action movie:

MOVIE: “Jackpot!” (2024, R, 106 min, watch it: Prime)

First and foremost, I’ll mention the movie certainly earned the “R” rating because of language. While there is basically nonstop action through the movie, it isn’t gratuitous or gory, but the language is coarse and prolific throughout. Though this isn’t a family-friendly movie, it is a delightfully silly action movie with a variety of fight sequences, a very quirky cast of characters and a plot that is 100% absurd.

In a not-to-distantly future Los Angeles, a new lottery has taken hold. Once a winner is declared, everyone else who bought a ticket has the opportunity to kill the winner and claim the prize. For the curious, only the original winner can be legally killed in this scenario; once that happens, the new winner cannot then be killed to continue the chain.

Thankfully things haven’t gotten bad enough throughout society for me to say, “Huh, yeah, I can see that working,” and am instead laughing off the idea as completely absurd. Though there have been other movies with a not-too-distant future showing promise (I’m looking at you, hoverboard from “Back to the Future II”), this is one I’m perfectly happy never seeing.

I’m really glad I saw this movie. If you’re into action-based popcorn flicks, this should have plenty of entertaining fight sequences for you. As an added bonus, there is a spectacular chemistry between John Cena and Awkwafina who both have back stories that feel out of place for this outlandish storyline, but they really make it work. I was invested in these characters and their relationship throughout the movie, Feig’s mastery of the buddy comedy in full sway.

The storyline and action sequences in this movie reminded me of two other movies. I enjoy them both, so it was a bonus in my book.

First: “The Running Man” (1987, R, 101min, watch it: DVD, Paramount+, Fubo) which is set in a future dystopian society where they have game shows convicts go on to fight in gladiatorial matches with their freedom or death on the line. Obviously not a direct comparison, but the fact they televised so much of the action in “Jackpot!” to the other “contestants” who were all trying to kill the lottery winner, it had a game show style vibe. “The Running Man” is rather dark and bleak, “Jackpot!” is much brighter and funny, but there are some similarities (at least in my head).

Second: “Shoot ‘Em Up” (2007, R, 86 min, watch it: DVD) which I always describe as, “Imagine any action sequence that sounds really cool for a movie, but too ridiculous to shoot on camera… and put them all in the same movie!” There are gun fights with people falling out of planes, people sliding on oil slicks, people sliding on conveyer belts, people in car chases, people in … um… moments of passion, people pulling strings to fire guns, and still many others. The over-the-top nature is something that felt really similar between the two movies. Again, the earlier movie is pretty dark and the characters are melancholy whereas “Jackpot!” is much brighter and amusing.

As with some of my other reviews, this movie certainly won’t appeal to everyone. The “R” rating and copious swearing will turn some people off, the lack of a sensical plot may deter others, and still more may see a trailer and just decide to stay away. My wife laughed frequently in the movie, enjoyed some of the 80s and 90s callbacks, but still had an end verdict that the movie was both “pointless” and “kinda dumb.”

Honestly, I agree quite a bit with that assessment but don’t mind the occasional frivolous movie where I don’t need a plot as long as I’m entertained. But what makes this movie actually worth a watch, to me, is the relationship that builds between John Cena’s character Noel and Awkwafina’s character Katie. In the midst of a crazy situation, they learn to trust one another and grow because of it. Somehow, amidst the absurd, Feig slipped in a heartfelt dynamic that Cena and Awkwafina made work.

So, is this what to watch for you? If you enjoy grabbing some popcorn and being entertained for a few hours with a story you probably won’t remember in a few days, this is an excellent choice. I don’t know that either of the two movies I was reminded of have much more to offer than that, so if you want an action storyline with more substance to it, “Fall Guy,” which I reviewed in May, is out on DVD and hits streaming platforms (Peacock for sure) on August 30.

Kent Kraft is someone who really enjoys Paul Feig’s “Freaks and Geeks” television show (1999 – 2000, watch it: DVD, Paramount+, Hulu) which only aired for one season. The show is set in the early 80s, giving it a great nostalgic vibe, and is all about fitting in during high school. Many stars got their start there including Linda Cardellini, James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and John Francis Daley (and has Trace Beaulieu and Joel Hodgson guest starring for any MST3K fans out there!), making it worth a watch.