when i first watched this film i realised that Charlie Lang didn't have to give Yvonne $2m, instead he could have given her $1m and still kept his promise of given her half what he wins on the lottery.
I know people will be thinking half of $4m is not $1m but it works out due to interpretation of what Charlie said. He stated he will give Yvonne half of what he wins in the lottery which is $2m as he and Muriel won $4m between them.
I see your point, but knowing the wife, that wouldn't have made any difference. Especially considering that legally, the 4 million belonged to the couple as a unit, not 2 million per individual.
shareYea, it's a good idea, but still would have made little difference over all I think.
shareThe problem with your argument is that New York is not a community property state. Since he purchased the ticket, it is his prize, not theirs. So in promising half of what he won, he is obligated to give her $2m, not $1m.
The legal battle would ended differently in real life. Good thing it was just a movie, huh?
You're so right. IRL there's no way in hell that Muriel would have won. She wouldn't even have been legally entitled to Charlie's 2M. She would have been lucky if he'd been generous enough to offer her his half. Plus, his lawyer was horrendous...when Muriel was on the stand he didn't even question her on how they never would have won if they'd used her numbers. And awarding her 4M based on some crazy dream about her dead father? That's just ridiculous.
sharehe wasn't obligated to do anything actually.
If he didn't have to share with his wife there's no way he would have to share with a waitress.
No court would compel him to pay out half on a verbal promise that was made on the expectation that he might win nothing or, in a typical case, like $7.
Maybe it wasn't clear to you that Yvonne didn't need to take him to court to get him to give her $2 million. He was more than willing.
Vader: I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Tarkin: Enough of this! Vader, release him!
It is the fact that he is an honest cop, which is not something you find lately in this city.
shareWeird calculations!
If Charlie wanted to give her half of what he gets, they would have split it 2/3 of the prize for him, and 1/3 of the prize for the waitress.
That is the only way she gets half of what he gets.
I thought any 9 yr old could do this math.
In real life the prize was $6m, which I assume became $4m after taxes. So by making the movie about a $4m prize, i think they used a dose of reality and sidestepped the need to talk about the painful subject of taxes on lottery winnings.
shareIn real life, this probably wouldn't of happened. It probably wouldn't of been a cop, it probably wouldn't of been a cute waitress either. This movie is just WAY too good to be true. Nice fairy tale but no way.
shareThis is based on a true story. In fact, the cop was a regular customer of the waitress, and both were older and happily married. The cop's wife was fine with the situation. But that would not have made a good movie.
shareIn real life all the winning tickets regardless of how many people chipped in to buy it would get the same amount. A bowling team from Albany wouldn't get more money just because they had more people involved. If that were the case all winners would simply add friends and family just so they could get more money.
sharegreat point. 9mil wtf?
shareEven I didn't get that, why would all the members of the same team pick the same numbers which won later on, they would each likely pick different numbers to increase their chances..
Also shouldn't lottery tickets have a unique number on each ticket to avoid such a thing happening.
quick picks are completely random. sometimes people do play the same numbers twice, these individuals are known as creative, or *beep* when yeht win its even more insane
shareHe was a schmuck. He could have given her $50K and that would have fixed her bankruptcy and more, being 2-3 years' income for her. "I gave my word" -- eh, not really. It was a stupid casual comment. He's more conscientious than most people - I have the same problem and I had to learn to be mroe arbitrary and selfish to live in the real world.
But then there was no movie premise. It was not a good movie premise, not really.
For him it was a manner of honor. He made a promise and he kept it.
share