When I was a kid, my favorite old game show to watch was Press Your Luck. Something about the flashing game board and the cartoon “Whammies” that spoiled contestants’ hopes of winning. What I didn’t know at the time was that the game had been the subject of a scandal at one point, and it’s that scandal which gets chronicled in the film, The Luckiest Man in America, starring Paul Walter Hauser.
Hauser, best known for his critically acclaimed roles in Black Bird, I Tonya, and Richard Jewell, stars in The Luckiest Man in America as Michael Larson. Larson was a real-life guy, a petty criminal and scam artist, who figured out how to game the Press Your Luck gameshow and went on a crazy winning streak, ending the episode with over $100K.
The film is directed by Samir Oliveros who co-wrote the script with Maggie Briggs. Also in the cast are Walton Goggins, Shamier Anderson, David Strathairn, Maisie Williams, Patti Harrison, Brian Geraghty, Haley Bennett, and Johnny Knoxville.
An earlier version of this film had Bill Murray attached to the Larson role but it never got off the ground.
SYNOPSIS: Based on a true story, THE LUCKIEST MAN IN AMERICA is set in May 1984, when an unemployed ice cream truck driver from Ohio (Paul Walter Hauser) steps onto the game show Press Your Luck harboring a big secret: the key to endless amounts of money. His winning streak is threatened when the bewildered executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.
The Luckiest Man in America hits theaters on April 4th courtesy of IFC Films! It had its world premiere last year at TIFF.
