Director: Ross Whittaker Featuring: Stefan Klincewicz, Paddy Kehoe, Pat Kenny, Running Time: 86 minutes
Early on in Ross Whittaker’s documentary about an infamous Irish syndicate stitch-up in the early 90s, we see an appearance from stat-man Stefan Klincewicz on Pat Kenny Live, promoting his book of tips on how to increase your chances winning the lottery. While present-day Pat talks up how he combined his personal scepticism, journalistic determination and engineering knowledge to uncover the truth from a charismatic con man, we see the actual footage of an irritable television presenter sneering at a dorky mathematician. Current Kenny’s confidence that he got the better of a guy who claimed he could beat the Lotto, who went on to beat the Lotto, while being interviewed for a film called Beat The Lotto, is truly revealing. We all want the thrill of pulling a fast one, and we also all believe that no one could possible pull a fast one on us.
Beat The Lotto makes for an entertaining caper, but it’s also an insightful ode to the Irish love of chancing the arm. Combining interviews from journalists and members of the syndicate, the film documents the true story of a group assembled by Klincewicz in 1992, and their attempt to cover close to two million combinations and guarantee a rollover Lotto jackpot win. Charting the National Lottery’s rise as a popular and trusted institution during Ireland’s miserable 80s, we then get accounts of the syndicate’s plan to snap up every possible number combo, and the National Lottery’s attempts to thwart them, a Catch Me If You Can in the court of public opinion as the story hit the papers and Stefan’s syndicate became cast as cheats and chancers in some eyes, and clever rogues in others.
As in his Katie Taylor doc Katie, Whittaker’s own enthusiasm for his subject comes through – here he benefits from more comfortable interviewees than the shy boxer, as the various syndicate members are all too happy to position their investment opportunity as a daring heist. Whittaker is happy to capture the twinkle in his subjects’ eyes, but room is left for the viewer to decide for themselves to what extent they’ll holler for this cute hooring.
Despite some slo-mo shots of the Lottery’s director and some platitudes about ‘taking on an institution’, this isn’t exactly an underdog story, no matter how enthusiastically the men involved tell it that way. Stefan and his crew are bored bankers, racehorse owners, solicitors, taking a calculated risk to turn a large sum of money into a slightly larger sum of money, egging themselves on over post-work pints on Leeson Street. Whittaker’s stylish storytelling keeps you swept up in their side of the story though.
Dramatisation scenes of a younger Stefan scheming give a playful true crime flair, even as the subjects repeatedly remind you that they technically weren’t doing anything illegal. With up-tempo music and Soderbergh-style editing, multiple shots on-screen at the same time (even to show something as simple as Stefan opening the door to his office), the filmmaking matches up with that of a fictional heist movie, simple but effective techniques to keep the film light and engaging.
Beat The Lotto is fun but frivolous, not unlike buying a lotto ticket for yourself. The attempt to tie this tale into a wider picture of Ireland goes a little undercooked, or perhaps under-considered. The journos seem to see it through the lens of a cheeky coming out party into the Celtic Tiger, which goes back to that idea about fast ones, again the viewer can decide the merits for that themselves as the films airs in the midst of ‘Michael Lowry, Political Power Broker’ Ireland. When the syndicate tell stories of punters cheering them on as they let them skip the queue, when Padddy Power co-founder Stewart Kenny talks about how the money wasn’t as important as the thrill, it is worth having a think about the deeper implications, are the money men playing the same game as you? There’s no question that this story presents a vicarious thrill, but just because it’s about beating a system, that doesn’t mean it’s about beating the system.
(3 / 5)