Since breaking through (at least to me) as the loose cannon nutso friend Shawn in I, Tonya, Paul Walter Hauser has had a series of celebrated roles playing guys on the outskirts including the bumbling Horace in Cruella, ‘Stingray’ in Cobra Kai, the title character of the accused Atlanta Olympics bomber in Clint Eastwood’s Richard Jewell, hopeless criminal Booch in the current Instigators, and his Emmy winning role as creepy killer Larry Hall in Black Bird.
Well chalk up another one as Hauser knocks it out of the park on the weirdo scale as legendary game show contestant Michael Larson in The Luckiest Man In America, which just had its World Premiere as one of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival’s opening night attractions. Larson became infamous in 1984 as a nerdy unemployed guy with three ex wives who travels across country in his beat up ice cream truck to audition for the CBS daytime game show Press Your Luck. Looking like a slob and wearing cargo shorts, the show’s casting director (Shamier Anderson) finds him to be super creepy, especially when they discover he is posing as someone else slated for the appointment (he had to get in someway), but producer Bill Carruthers ( David Strathairn) sees something else, a chance to showcase an offbeat type contestant who could draw audience interest and not pose much of a threat to win big, at least based on appearances.
So he lands a spot as contestant (still wearing cargo shorts but with a coat and tie as seen on camera) and draws a Whammy (the cartoon character representing a wipeout) immediately looking like a loser against his two opponents. But by the second round things begin to change and he starts a winning streak like no other. The guy can’t lose and the money and prizes start piling up as he runs the board, no whammys in sight. Is he a hustler?
Meanwhile in the control booth, Carruthers starts to sweat as his “star” turns out to be something quite different than he expected and looks to bankrupting the show. The talent booker does research and discovers information that leads to fears he may be gaming the system which he is indeed doing. It turns out Larson had figured out the show’s few patterns when the electronic board goes into action and contestants must stop it and avoid one of the many Whammys. Network bosses start to panic, but when Larson’s streak starts driving audience enthusiasm they encourage host Peter Tomarken (Walton Goggins) to play it up for ratings.
Columbian Director Samir Oliveros, who also co-wrote the script with Maggie Briggs, has based his film on the actual events when Larson went on to become the record breaker for winnings (over $100,000) by coming up with a can’t miss formula he honed making VHS tapes of past episodes and studying them over and over. Some of it sticks completely to the facts, some of it surmises what was going on in Larson’s head and life that led to this moment, including a rather ludicrous sidebar as he panics when they confront him and ends up in another studio wandering on a talk show where the host (Johnny Knoxville in a bizarre cameo) begins interviewing him.
With Hauser in charge this whole scenario keeps us engaged thanks to the actor’s ability to breathe some humanity into these oddball characters. You can see why he couldn’t resist this one. The great Strathairn is also excellent as a veteran producer who thought his instincts were unpenetrable, and Goggins expertly plays the smooth tv host just following direction. Anderson also scores points as the suspicious talent booker.
In terms of feature films focused on game shows, this one is a few steps above The Gong Show Movie , but not quite on the level of Robert Redford’s gripping Oscar nominated Quiz Show. And though that CBS iteration of Press Your Luck is long gone, the show has returned , now in prime time on ABC with Elizabeth Banks in charge. Apparently there were, uh, adjustments made to the “Big Board” after Larson’s remarkable run pressing his “luck”.
Producer of the film, looking for distribution, is Amanda Freeman. Pablo Larrain is one of the many listed Executive Producers.
Title: The Luckiest Man In America
Festival: Toronto
Director: Samir Oliveros
Screenplay: Maggie Briggs, Samir Oliveros
Cast: Paul Walter Hauser, Walton Goggins, Shamier Anderson, David Strathairn, Maisie Williams, Patti Harrison, Johnny Knoxville, Haley Bennett, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Brian Geraghty, Lilli Kay, James Wolk.
Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Sales Agent: CAA
