sk2005_4
The short story The Lottery (by the late great Ms. Jackson) has three major points that make it gut-wrenching:1.) The fact that a woman is stoned to death 2.) The fact that the woman had participated in stoning people up to the time of her death 3.) The fact that, in the story, this is an accepted American pastimeThis movie (if you can call it that) completely forsakes No. 3, and all but ruins No.'s 1 and 2. After an endless and pointless journey into a small town with a secret, a forgotten past, and a love story (it sounds stupid already), we finally get to the Lottery. The events don't come as a surprise, even though they should. Then the movie wraps itself up into a neat little package complete with an ending as lackluster as a lump of coal. The truly sad thing is that I saw this movie in a Liturature class. Bottom line: They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
bengoblue
This is a horrible movie. The dialouge sounds like it was written by Bozo the clown. Whoever made this pathetic adaptation of a famous short story should be ashamed of themselves. Grade: * out of ****
rmssw
Shirley Jackson was one of the most talented writers of the 20th century and her story "The Lottery" continues to be one of the most discussed short stories in modern literature. You would think that a film (or in this case, a television) adaptation would pay a little more attention to detail and try to remain at least a little loyal to the original story. Instead, we get this. The only similarity between this and the story is the fact that someone is stoned to death. Beyond that, it seems as though the screenwriters never even glanced at the short story while writing this. Even when looked at on its own, paying no attention to the story, this movie is bad. It is over-the-top and insulting to the viewer. The context and setting are all wrong, making the plot completely unbelievable. As for the acting, I don't think it's fair to call what is portrayed in the movie "acting". Do yourself a favor and read the story. With this and the recent second film adaptation of her novel "The Haunting Of Hill House", the memory of Shirley Jackson does not deserve to be degraded any further.
ABoggan
I have read some of the other commentaries that are negative about this movie, and realize they are missing the point. Shirley Jackson was a fantastic artist, capable of enumerating that which is evil about the human condition. This movie is not so far fetched if you consider the Aztec's or other ancient cultures who sacrificed their virgin women, or children to the volcano God's so that they would have a good harvest. That is the whole idea of this movie folks. They believed that sacrificing one of thier own was good for the whole. Far fetched? Not so. And she does it so well. Small town, townfolk being of the usual sort you find in any small town in America, and adds that twist that scares the bajeebers out of you. I had seen it before, but when it came on again, my boyfriend was with me,this being the first time for him, and a first time for me because I had never heard him scream before.
AD
