Keri Russell Movie:

		List Price: $6.99		Label: Platinum Disc Salesrank: 51241 Released: February 4, 2003
		Our Price: $90.99
		Used Price: $37.99
		MPAA Rating: Unrated Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Studio: Platinum Disc Llc Release Date: 09/19/2006 Run time: 94 minutes

The Lottery Reviews:
My English Students Collaborated on this Review
2009-11-22 - Based on the story "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson and set in the mythical town of New Hope, Maine, this DVD bills itself as a place where "the luck of the draw is a matter of life and death."

Small, innocent, and picture perfect on the surface, the setting is--in fact--a façade. Watch further and you'll find that the plot of the movie is a mix of lies, religious beliefs, and traditions in which sane meets crazy.

Jason Smith, played with melodrama by Dan Cortese, returns to New Hope to find out about the mystery of his mother's death. Felice, Keri Russell, is a local resident and daughter of the lone innkeeper. She is torn between emotion and tradition as she develops an attraction for Jason.

The triumvirate of Mayor Warner, Deputy Simmons, and Rev. Hutchinson keeps a fierce grip on the town through political and religious intimidation.

The townspeople themselves seem overly controlled and suscipious of outsiders.

The music is very dramatic when something sudden is about to happen. As you would expect, there is a rush for something exciting, and it changes with the mood of the characters. It was mellow at the beginning. An older, classical sound can be heard at points.

The theme of violence is foreshadowed and comes to fruition in a graphic scene we won't give away.

Most students in two (college) classes agree that the DVD is worth the 94 minutes of class time in order to get a visual picture of Jackson's timeless story adapted to another time and place.



good quality
2009-03-26 - This film has a great section that could be viewed in an English class...the whole film is not true to the actual story, but the actual lottery section is pretty close...I used it in my classroom.

the lottery
2008-10-22 - There is no book that can truly compare to the story it is based on. In this case, it is true. The story was a lot better than the movie. In the movie version, the dramatized it too much making it like a quest to find out what happened to the guy's mother. They made this story too Hollywood and I really didn't like it too much. But there was a big difference I noticed from the story to the movie. In the story, the characters didn't see anything wrong in what they were doing but in the movie, the characters were very aware that it was wrong and they tried to hide it.
However, they did stick to the story in the way that it was indeed very ironic. What is pictured in the movie and the story is a peaceful town in which the children are playing and everyone is friendly to each other. No one would expect such a heinous act to be committed in such a friendly town. There were also major clues of foreshadowing in both of them, for example, the children collecting stones. At first, you think that it is just the kids playing around, but by the end of the story, you come to realize the truth of the collection of the stones.
Something that stood out to me was how no one ever stood out of the crowd and say that this is wrong. They were all very aware that it is wrong but just because that's what they did hundreds of years ago, they think that it is necessary to do. The one time that happened, that person was rejected from the whole town. The town won't even say the man's name who "didn't follow the crowd" and try to help his wife when she won the lottery.


Good movie!!!
2008-07-11 - This is a good movie! Not that scary but, it makes you think about all the small towns out there that you never see. The ones that are hidden from the rest of the world. I can really see this happening in some small town in America. Great cast also. If you like scary movies that aren't too scary then this is a movie for you.

great stoning movie
2008-06-01 - The only reason i started watching this movie is because i was with my girl friend and she started watching it and normaly i would be like no way chick flick no way but then when we started watching it the stoning part where the stone these women really kept me interested in the movie so because of that im giving it a 5 star.......