Joey Magidson
For nearly everyone out there, at some point in your life, you’ve been watching a game show and wanted to be on it. In fact, you’ve also likely fantasized about winning the big prize. It’s just a thing we do. So, when a film centers on game shows, there’s often a bit of extra interest, especially if it’s based at all on fact. With The Luckiest Man in America, we actually have one of the more notorious true life tales of scamming a game show for personal profit. It’s a ready made tale for the big screen. Unfortunately, this movie is no Quiz Show, meaning that it’s unable to capitalize on the real tale and make it cinematically compelling.
The Luckiest Man in America has a great hook, whether you previously know about this story or not. The shame of it is how there’s nothing really here than meets the eye. There’s lip service paid to the deeper elements, to be fair, but it’s shifted to the side in favor of trying to solve the mystery element of the story. There’s interesting parts to that, of course, but it leaves us without the heart and soul that flick is clearly trying to traffic in as well.
This is the story of Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser), who in May of 1984 managed to trick his way on to the game show Press Your Luck. An unemployed ice cream truck driver with a crumbling family life, Michael has a secret that will come in handy here. He has the key to endless money on the show, having figured out the algorithm of the game’s big board. For Michael, there will be no Whammy for him.
As Michael is on a huge winning streak, ultimately winning over $100,000, the executives who felt his homespun story would be good for ratings are bewildered. Producer Bill Cunningham (David Straithairn) was won over by his folksy charm, while Chuck (Shamier Anderson) is decidedly more skeptical. While Bill tries to cover his tracks, Chuck begins to investigate who exactly Michael is, as well as how he might be cheating at their game. All the while, host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins) is yucking it up with Michael, unaware that everyone is being taken for a ride.
Paul Walter Hauser again turns in a very strong performance, continuing to show why he’s among the most interesting actors working today. He makes Michael more fascinating than the screenplay does, giving him a pathos as opposed to simply a drive to win. Hauser is never anything less than compelling to watch, with this being no exception. While the likes of Walton Goggins and David Strathairn are solid in roles that don’t ask a whole hell of a lot of them, Hauser has the movie on his back. Shamier Anderson fares better than Goggins and Strathairn, but again, it’s Hauser’s show. Supporting players include Haley Bennett, Brian Geraghty, Patti Harrison, Johnny Knoxville, Maisie Williams, and more.
Filmmaker Samir Oliveros directs a script he co-wrote with Maggie Briggs, and while there’s no shortage of fascinating bits on display, it never fully comes together. The nearly real time element of figuring out the scam is solid, though it takes away from any emotional stakes. More of a clinical or thriller look would have benefitted from this approach. Instead, Briggs and Oliveros have written a screenplay hoping to evoke empathy for a troubled man. However, Oliveros’ direction focuses on too little of that, with the mystery never being much of one. We’re ahead of the game, which makes everyone else seem dumber by comparison.
The Luckiest Man in America should be better, which is the disappointing part. There’s just not enough meat on its bones, despite all of the material on hand to utilize, leading to a frustration. To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with this film. We just have a middling one that’s aching to be at least a good one, if not a great one. Oh well, despite what Michael Larson was momentarily proving, you can’t win them all.
SCORE: ★★1/2
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