Movie review
October 20, 2022 · 96 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Jerry & Marge Go Large is a 2022 comedy-drama based on the true story of retired Michigan couple Jerry and Marge Selbee. They discover a mathematical loophole in a lottery game, win over 27 million dollars across several years, and use much of the money to revive jobs and life in their struggling small town while strengthening their long marriage. The film delivers a simple, feel-good tale about purpose after retirement, partnership, and community support with no audience-visible identity politics, activist dialogue, or representation-driven themes in its premise, characters, or marketing.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Jerry & Marge Go Large.
Woke representation / casting
Supporting roles include actors of color in noticeable secondary positions, such as Larry Wilmore as the accountant in the small Michigan town ensemble, consistent with some current industry norms but without heavy identity signaling, quota emphasis, or narrative spotlight on race or diversity as themes.
Woke political dialogue
No activist speeches, identity arguments, or modern political commentary appear; dialogue centers on lottery math, retirement life, marriage, and practical plans to help neighbors and family.
Identity-driven story themes
The narrative follows a traditional long-married couple rediscovering purpose through math ingenuity and generous community investment; themes stay rooted in personal initiative, partnership, and small-town American values without race, gender, sexuality, or identity arcs.
Western institutional / cultural critique
The story lightly exposes a flaw in a state lottery and adds unsympathetic young Harvard-educated antagonists for tension, yet these elements create mild dramatic contrast rather than activist critiques of capitalism, elites, patriarchy, or cultural institutions; the tone ultimately affirms community uplift and self-reliance.
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film adapts documented real events and people with Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening portraying the actual Jerry and Marge Selbee without identity-driven reinterpretations or alterations to the source story.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
No meaningful right-leaning or anti-woke complaints accuse the film of DEI messaging, propaganda, or identity politics; available reactions are indifferent or appreciative of its clean, agenda-free entertainment.
Creator track record context
Primary director David Frankel shows no activist pattern. Other credited directors and most producers have technical or inspirational credits with little political history. Producer Amy Baer has mild industry equity advocacy experience and produced redemptive justice-themed stories, placing overall signals in a low liberal range without shaping this project toward identity-driven themes.
Production
