The Luckiest Man In America Review: No Whammies?
Theatrical Movie Review - Biopic/Drama
Staying home from school in the 1980s meant watching game shows, and one of the most fun shows to watch was Press Your Luck. But if you didn’t happen to see its original run in June of 1984, you would have missed Michael Larson’s record-breaking performance on the show. Now, director Samir Oliveros is bringing that story to the big screen in The Luckiest Man in America.
When Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) shows up to audition for Press Your Luck, he is initially passed over by Chuck (Shamier Anderson), who thinks something seems off. However, when showrunner Bill Carruthers (David Straithairn) meets him, Michael is given an opportunity to be on the show. He has some banter with host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins), and they begin to play the game. As they start to play, Michael gets on a winning streak that seems unstoppable, causing panic among the executives. What do you do when the luckiest man in America is playing your game?
Cheating that has occurred on game shows has been the subject of several films, but The Luckiest Man in America isn’t about a cheater but about a system that had enough flaws in it that a part-time ice cream truck driver was able to figure out how to beat it. Because, at the time, Press Your Luck had only five patterns that it used, and Michael Larson figured them out. This film puts you right in his seat, watching that knowledge play out in his favor.
The story for this is entertaining; unfortunately, the film isn’t quite as much fun as the story itself. Because we first meet Larson at an audition where he lies about who he is, we’re unsure if he is a villain to be defeated or a regular guy who is about to take down people who thought they were smarter than everyone. Throughout the film, we’re torn between rooting for Larson and rooting against him. However, his story is widely known, and that makes things a bit muddier.
This is a stacked cast, and all are talented, so none of the performances are bad. But despite many solid performances, none stand out in any really impressive way, aside from Hauser. He is able to create a character in Larson who is a little bit of a loser but also has a secret that the executives don’t understand, making him more complex than most of the others in the film. The only other interesting character was Chuck, and Anderson did an admirable job with him, but because the film never quite settled on a tone, it didn’t have anywhere to go.
Despite some issues with the script, there is definitely enough in The Luckiest Man in America to make it an entertaining watch. Sometimes, a reminder that the system can be taken down just by paying attention to the details is enough to keep those whammies at bay.
Rating: 3/5
This review originally appeared in The Dominion Post on April 6, 2025.
Been on the fence with whether to see in theater or not, but I have long loved the story. Might need another trip to IFC 👀