The Luckiest Man in America

Considering that many of us are convinced that the system is rigged against us these days, there are probably quite a few folks out there who would like to find a way to “game the system” in their favor, especially given how widely they’ve come to believe that the system is gaming them. But succeeding at that task is likely to prove an uphill battle – or is it? As this fact-based comedy-drama from writer-director Samir Oliveros shows, it’s possible (or at least was at one time) to find a way to legally break the bank. And how ironic it is that this venture at gaming the system came at the hands of a game show contestant. In May 1984, the CBS daytime game show Press Your Luck was a huge network hit that held out the promise of contestants potentially winning “big bucks” (sums that may be paltry by today’s standards but that were rather lucrative for the time). However, invariably, contestants often came away disappointed given how the deck was seemingly stacked against them. Nevertheless, when unemployed ice cream truck driver Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) appeared on the show, he had figured out a legitimate way to beat the system. His enterprising method for winning those big bucks raised a lot of eyebrows – and suspicions – of how he did it, an undertaking that enabled him to become, at the time, the record holder for total prize winnings in a single-day game show appearance. Larson’s astonishing “luck” stunned show host Peter Tomarken (Walter Goggins), his fellow contestants (Brian Geraghty, Patti Harrison), show director/co-creator Bill Carruthers (David Stathairn), and a perplexed production staff and audience. How did he do it? That’s what this offering attempts to explain. Regrettably, as entertaining as this release may be, it takes a lot of license with what actually happened, a quality that I, as a trained journalist, find quite questionable. This tactic may add much in terms of dramatic and comedic effect, but, ultimately, how credible is it? It also probably accounts for the film’s undeniable lack of a back story, given that much had been altered to accommodate the foregoing considerations. Viewers who are willing to look the other way on this point will undoubtedly come away from this picture amused and uplifted, given that it’s a prime example of an underdog coming out on top, an everyman who’s able to vanquish “a big bad corporation” and make slicksters in the entertainment business look patently foolish. It also features another fine performance by Hauser, who continues his string of successes as one of today’s finest character actors. However, those interested in the truth of what really happened would be better served by watching the Game Show Network documentary “Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal” (2003), which goes into detail on how Mr. Larson pulled off this ingenious coup – and truly became, at least for a time, the luckiest man in America for real.