The Luckiest Man in America

The Luckiest Man in America was a fascinating watch for me, especially because it's based on a true story I hadn't heard before. It follows a man who managed to con his way onto a game show and ended up getting incredibly lucky while on it. I was completely unfamiliar with the real-life event or the man at the center of it, which made the film all the more intriguing.

What really grabbed my attention was how quickly the story pulled me in. It's one of those movies where, as soon as it ends, you immediately want to Google the real events to find out what actually happened. And in this case, there's a surprising amount of additional bizarre and fascinating information about the guy that didn't make it into the film.

As for the movie itself, I'd call it a solid one-time watch. It presents an unusual slice of 1980s history in an entertaining way. It's not necessarily a film you'd revisit, but it succeeds in shining a light on a quirky, forgotten moment in pop culture. You watch it, think "Well, that was interesting," and move on-now I'm a little more informed about one of the oddest stories to come out of the game show world.

After watching this I thought had they stayed away from some fantasy elements and just told the guys actual story it would have been a better watch. Game Show Network made their own version of Michael Larsons story and it was better because it was factual.

This film could have even done follow up of how Larson cashed in the money for $1 bills after a radio station had a prize if you matched a serial number. Then when arriving home from a Christmas party he and his wife discovered the money has been stolen. That would have been more interesting than eating time of Larson wandering around the set of CBS and interrupting a talk show. I highly doubt this happened!

This film reminded me of the recent Weird Al biopic which also started straight then turned into a farce.

The Luckiest Man In America is apparently based on a true person although I never heard of him. The movie is categorized as a thriller but it isn't, it's basically a drama which is normally not my favourite genre but this one was actually a good movie. The cast was very well chosen. Paul Walter Hauser has one of those faces to play a weirdo, like he did before in the excellent movie Richard Jewell and the great series Black Bird. This time he plays the contestant in a game show, again a character that can be qualified as weird. Good acting from the entire cast and an easy and pleasant story to follow.

I remember this happening and here it is, in a movie. They did a great job re-telling this story with an amazing cast to boot.

Hauser delivers another great performance of the main character in a true story. Although Black Bird was a much better production, this still nails it all in a movie length feature.

Always good to see Goggins in anything and he plays the host here to a tee.

Very interesting behind the scenes storyline as well, something that nobody really knew about unless they were actually there. Obviously not everything is exactly what happened but I think they did a great job here.

Dragged a bit near the end but still only and hour and a half. Good movie for the morning.

Peese.

The list of things that didn't happen is way longer than the list of things that actually happened, and the stuff that actually happened is far more interesting.

Yes, Michael did go on the show and win big by memorizing the patterns on the board. But that's where the true part ends. Everything else that happened, him wandering on to another talk show, breaking into his truck and watching tapes, calling his wife and putting her on the show, the list goes on.

The movie is well cast, but not well written. If you want to watch a more interesting telling of the story, go watch "Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal"