Russ: John Travolta	Crystal: Lisa Kudrow
Gig: Tim Roth	Dick: Ed O'Neill
Walter: Michael Moore (II)	Officer Chambers: Daryl Mitchell
Dale: Michael Rapaport	Officer Lakewood: Bill Pullman
Director: Nora Ephron

30 Second Bottom Line: A comedy in which a couple plan to rig the lottery, so that the winning balls match the numbers on a ticket they have already purchased. Their simple plan becomes complicated as other people necessarily become involved.

Story Line: Russ (John Travolta) is the TV weatherman on channel 6, who is so jolly that he makes Al Roker (author of Don't Make Me Stop This Car & "The Today Show" weather guru) look like an introvert. Channel 6 also airs the live drawing for the lottery, with Crystal (Lisa Kudrow) as the chipper and cheerful person who picks the lucky numbers. Crystal is having an affair with Russ, as well as the local network manager, Dick (Ed O'Neill). It's mid-December and Harrisburg, PA is having an extended summer, which means that sales at Russ's new snow mobile dealership are really slow.

Russ meets with his friend and strip club owner Gig (Tim Roth), who suggests that he raise some money not by having a fire sale (literally), but by arranging a phony robbery of the inventory. They use Gig's action man, Dale the Thug (Michael Rapaport), for specialty jobs. When things don't go quite as planned, Gig's next scheme is that there may be a way to win the lottery.

Gig, Russ and Crystal conspire and devise a plan to rig the lotto and split the winnings. They do…and they win! Now the trick is how to cash the ticket and leave town without anyone becoming suspicious.

At this point the simple plan turns into just that…everything starts to go wrong. Walter (Michael Moore) is brought into town to buy the ticket because he is infatuated with Crystal. Later he wants more than the share he agreed to. On the way into work one morning, Dick finds something that clues him in that the lottery was rigged, and he wants a large double-digit cut.

While the bad guys are tripping over each other, Officer Lakewood (Bill Pullman) comes on the scene as a hapless policeman, who we know will find a way to solve the crime in spite of himself. His partner, Officer Chambers (Daryl Mitchell), is the brains in the squad car who helps him turn left when he's about to turn right.

Tell Me More About It: I really liked the movie for about the first 45 minutes, as the caper possibilities seemed enticingly funny. Russ and Crystal are dimwits who are smart enough to do reasonably well for themselves. Both are TV celebrities with talent. They come up with a neat plan to win the lottery and the film is moving right along until Walter is pushed aside, and Officers Chambers and Lakewood, and Dale assume major roles.

The plot then turns into slapstick comedy and the delicious build up involving getting away with a crime to win $64 million dollars, becomes the sub plot to one lame brain trying to outsmart another lame brain. I found myself laughing at the first half of the movie and kind of smirking at the remainder. Overall this is broadcast TV material, spruced up with some sex and four letter words. Lucky Numbers had the potential of Meet the Parents, but it just ran out of steam. For example, in Meet the Parents there are laugh out loud scenes throughout the film. The situations not only change, but the characters' actions later in the film are based upon experiences they gained earlier in the story. Here, the terrain stays the same.

I found another TV comparison that I was not aware of at first, and that's women who always wear tight fitting tops to accentuate their breasts. Maybe that works on a 30-minute TV sitcom, but it's not the ticket for a two-hour movie that costs me $8 bucks to get in.

This may be the most commercially crass film yet, with its play to Yamaha. Many films have product placements and some even work the advertiser into the script, by mentioning going to Starbucks, for instance. Here, the Yamaha dealership plays throughout the film, from the opening segment on the slow sales, until the end. Russ is fleeing from Officer Lakewood, first on a non-Yamaha snow mobile and then on a Yamaha, because a full- blown sales pitch of its features is given.

John Travolta: A Civil Action	Lisa Kudrow: Analyze This
Tim Roth: Rob Roy	Ed O'Neill: The Bone Collector
Daryl Mitchell: Galaxy Quest	Michael Moore (II): Roger & Me
Michael Rapaport: The 6th Day	Bill Pullman: Browndown Palace
Nora Ephron: You've Got Mail