Jackpot

An aspiring country singer (Jon Gries) abandons his wife and child to go on the road with his manager (Garrett Morris), working the karaoke circuit (is there really such a thing?) and waiting for the big break that will make him a star. Filmmakers Michael and Mark Polish (they both wrote the script, and Michael directed) get the atmosphere they’re reaching for: seedy bars, stale beer and cold cigarette butts, filtered through the pitiless glare of prairie sunlight. But dramatically the film seems to be taking place on some other planet. Flashbacks and flash-forwards clutter the film like crumpled paper, and the Polish brothers seem more intent on giving their film an artsy sheen than on making sense of the characters or their plight. Anthony Edwards, Mac Davis and Adam Baldwin contribute cameos.