Rating: 5/10
**This review contains spoilers.**
Michael Larson was definitely “The Luckiest Man in America” in May 1984 when he won over $110,000 on the game show “Press Your Luck.”
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That doesn’t mean the newly released adaptation, based on the real-life story of Larson breaking the record for the most money earned on a game show, lives up to the hype with several tension-filled moments that were dull to watch.
The movie introduces Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser), an ice cream delivery man, in the audition waiting room for “Press Your Luck” under the name Travis Dunn. His jitteriness hints at his mental state as the audition goes on, which shifts when his real identity is discovered.
Despite his initially nervous exterior, Michael is an ambitious man willing to do anything to be on the game show. His dreams come true when he’s shown the bright, casino-like game board.
These scenes try to capture the audience, but fall flat, especially when the game starts off rocky with host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins), lightening the mood with his try-hard charm. Tomarken’s character feels forced and lacks any genuine charm. His personality seems tacked onto a character that lacks any authenticity, existing only to please his bosses at CBS.
Michael begins studying the board, hinting at a reveal that he memorized the patterns to go on a winning streak. The execs in the control room spiral into panic, which confuses the audience and makes the scene difficult to follow.
TV executive Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn) responds to the winning streak by getting the casting director, Chuck (Shamier Anderson), to go on a wild goose chase to find out more about Michael. This results in a boring scene of him irrationally entering Michael’s beaten-up ice cream truck and retrieving his tapes and envelopes.
The movie makes an abrupt, poorly timed cut to a scene of Chuck watching Michael’s old VHS tapes. These tapes depict Michael, his wife and his daughter in a happier time before “Press Your Luck” took over.
There is a sudden change from seeing Michael happy with his family to an episode of “Press Your Luck.” This alerts the audience of the change Michael underwent from being a happy-go-lucky family man to a desperate, money-hungry man.
This is later represented when Chuck, turning his skepticism for Michael into a need to stop him, calls his wife, Patricia (Haley Bennett), to the studio. There, she announces that she’s divorcing him. This leaves the audience on edge until Bill assures Michael he can win big for one last round.
The unnecessary final scene transports us to Lebanon, Ohio, where Patricia watches him on the show. She roots for him at first but tears well up in her eyes as he continues to win.
This should’ve been a deleted scene — the audience already knew her reaction to Michael’s wins. It seemed like her appearance was a way to add unnecessary time to the movie.
Hauser gives a well-executed performance, portraying the vulnerable inner layers of a guy desperate to win his favorite game show. It is showcased particularly well when he stumbles onto Leon Hart’s (Johnny Knoxville) set to divulge how he thinks he screwed up by being on the show.
The presentation of the 1980s, from the costumes to replicating the set of the original “Press Your Luck,” was terrific. It genuinely felt like the audience was immersed in a different era instead of a disingenuous knockoff.
This movie had many flaws, including the crisis response from the execs. Initially, they tried to take him down. In the end, they embraced his wins, branding him “The Luckiest Man in America.”
This was a decision they should have made earlier instead of sending Chuck to investigate him, which felt anticlimactic to watch and lacked substance. Deciding to profit from Michael toward the beginning of the film would’ve made it more interesting to watch.
If “The Luckiest Man in America” hadn’t solely focused on the events of that day and created a more well-rounded biopic of Larson and his life after the show, filled with bad money-making decisions, fleeing Ohio and throat cancer, the rating would be higher.
