Editor’s Observe: This assessment was initially printed through the 2024 Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant. IFC Movies opens “The Luckiest Man in America” on April 4, 2025.
At their finest, sport exhibits have at all times been outlined by their juxtaposition of real stakes and utter ridiculousness. Audiences see flashing lights, gaudy neon colour palettes, and spray-tanned hosts with unconvincingly dyed hair, however contestants see a battlefield the place fortunes will be received and misplaced. Daytime exhibits revolve round video games of probability deemed easy sufficient to offer essentially the most senseless of background noise whereas individuals do chores round the home, however the cash concerned usually has life-changing implications for these concerned.
Samir Oliveros’ “The Luckiest Man in America” efficiently exploits that rigidity in its semi-fictionalized telling of Michael Larson’s (Paul Walter Hauser) document shattering 1984 win on “Press Your Luck,” wherein he took house over $110,000 by determining that the present’s seemingly randomized wheel spins have been all based mostly on the identical 5 mild patterns. Unfolding nearly completely on the CBS lot the place the sport present was taped, the movie treats the producers’ quest to determine his not possible knack for the sport with all of the seriousness of a Secret Service counterfeiting operation. On the similar time, its sweet coloured set and ’80s sport present kitsch forestall audiences from ever forgetting in regards to the asininity of the setting. All of it combines to kind a delightfully sleazy ensemble thriller that goes down simple in 90 minutes — and one more reminder that Hauser is one among his era’s most fascinating film stars.
When Larson walks into the casting workplaces for “Press Your Luck” in 1984, some dueling incentives are instantly launched. He’s an unemployed ice cream truck driver who goals of creating sufficient cash to get his life again on observe and reconnect along with his estranged daughter. However the present’s producers, led by showrunner Invoice Carruthers (David Strathairn), see the raveled man with a visual ardour for the present as a lovable loser who will delight their TV audiences. In opposition to the recommendation of his aides, Carruthers opts to fast-track Larson by way of the already-brief ’80s background verify course of and put him on the present the subsequent day.
The premise of “Press Your Luck” is iconically easy: contestants reply easy trivia questions, and proper solutions earn them spins on a wheel that comprises numerous prizes and a handful of “Whammies,” which trigger them to forfeit the entire cash they’ve gathered. After a profitable spin, a contestant can both select to maintain urgent their luck or go the spin to a different contestant to keep away from risking a Whammy. And when Michael begins enjoying, he seems to be no totally different from some other contestant. His obsession with the present and lack of social expertise results in some awkward banter with host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins, providing the perfect dose of smarmy appeal), however that delights Caruthers and his military of producers within the management room, who see him as an everyman hero. His first flip on the wheel rapidly ends in a Whammy, and the present proceeds as deliberate.
However when the second spherical of spinning rolls round, Michael simply retains successful. And successful. And successful. At the same time as he breaks the present’s prize cash document with a successful streak that’s nearly statistically not possible, he refuses to go a spin. With the present bleeding unprecedented quantities of money, Carruthers is pressured to coordinate with furious community executives whereas concurrently launching an investigation into Larson’s previous. His eventual findings paint a portrait of a person whose obsession with this sport present may very well be a bandage for a really deep wound.
“The Luckiest Man in America” is at its finest when it narrows its concentrate on sport present drama. The stealthy behind-the-scenes investigation into Larson’s conduct from the producers and crew unfolds like an intricate ballet quantity throughout business breaks, and Hauser’s refined facial expressions and mannerisms illustrate how cleverly this mouse skirts the multitude of cats which are chasing him. Whereas Larson is an interesting character throughout the confines of the contained thriller, the few moments when the movie loses steam come when it tries to discover his demons too overtly. One notably formidable sequence sees him wandering off the soundstage and proper onto the stage of one other discuss present, the place he proceeds to offer an interview about his must get nearer to a household that not needs something to do with him. Each the writing and Hauser’s appearing are greater than passable, however the second seems like a misplaced arthouse tangent in a movie that in any other case clings to the realism of its plot.
Nonetheless, Hauser’s efficiency as a person whose dedication to make use of his distinctive abilities to forge the emotional connections that in any other case evade him holds your entire movie collectively. Recreation exhibits won’t have fairly the cultural cache that they did in 1984, however “The Luckiest Man in America” nonetheless feels brutally related in 2024 for illustrating the ways in which people attempt to use parasocial relationships with leisure to deal with voids of their lives that aren’t simply crammed.
Grade: B+
“The Luckiest Man in America” could have its world premiere on the 2024 Toronto Worldwide Movie Pageant. IFC Movies releases it April 4, 2025.
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