The Eclectic Choice: Jackpot

Jackpot (2001)
dir. Michael Polish
written by Mark and Michael Polish


This is the second film by Mark and Michael Polish, twin brothers who delivered one of the more underrated debuts of the 90's, Twin Falls Idaho (1999). In Jackpot, the brothers deliver another off the wall film about a guy who wants to be a singing sensation and sets out by conquering the karaoke world.

John Gries gives one of his best performances as Sunny Holiday, the aspiring singer who is on a nine month road trip wit his manager played by Garrett Morris. The twosome travel from seedy bar to seedy bar waiting for Sunny's big break as he croons his way through karaoke competitions and sell carpet stain remover to make extra cash. Gries gives Sunny a heartbreaking optimism that sets the tone and allows every surrealistic situation to come alive with an almost dreamlike quality. It is a tone that comes crashing down to reality when Daryl Hannah, as Sunny's wife, forces Sunny to look at his life and make some heavy decisions.

This is a film that spells quirk with a capital Q and reinforces a vision of two filmmakers who are unique and continually overlooked. With other films like Northfork (2003), The Astronaut Farmer (2006) and the upcoming Manure (2009), Mark and Michael Polish are real modern day representatives of independent cinema who seem to continually get lost behind the more commercialized Napoleon Dynamites and Junos in this world.