The editor’s note: This review was originally published during 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. IFC movies open ”The happiest man in America“April 4, 2025.
At its best, Game shows has always been defined by their composition of genuine efforts and complete ridiculousness. The audience sees flashing lamps, Gaudy neon color palettes and spray-tanned hosts with unmatched colored hair, but competitors look A battlefield where wealth can be won and lost. Day shows revolve around games of chances that are considered to be easy enough to give the most insane of background noise while people do chores around the house, but the money involved often has life -changing consequences for those involved.
Samir Oliveros “The Luckiest Man in America” successfully utilizes that excitement in his semi -viewing story about Michael Larsons (Paul Walter Hauser) Record crushing 1984 victory on “Press Your Luck”, where he took home over $ 110,000 by figuring out that the show’s seemingly randomized wheel spin was based on the same five light patterns. The film was developed almost exclusively on the CBS Party where the game show was taped, the film deals with the producers’ quest to find out his impossible condition for the game seriously in a forgery of secret services. At the same time, its candy -colored set and the 80s game prevents kitsch audience from ever forgetting about the setting. Everything is combined to form a lovely Sleazy Ensemble thriller that goes down easily in 90 minutes – and another reminder that Hauser is one of his generation’s most interesting movie stars.
When Larson enters the casting offices for “Press your turn” in 1984, some dueling incentives are introduced immediately. He is an unemployed ice cream car driver who dreams of making enough money to get his life back on track and reconnect with his foreign daughter. But the show’s producers, led by Showrunner Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn), see the discontinued man with a visible passion for the show as a lovable loser who will delight his television audience. Against the advice of their assistants, Carruthers chooses to quickly track Larson through the already short 60’s background control process and put him on the show the next day.
The prerequisite for “Press Your Louck” is iconically simple: Competitors answers simple trivia questions and correct answers earn them spin on a wheel containing different prices and a handful of “Whammies”, which makes them lose all the money they have collected. After a successful spin, a contestant can either choose to continue pressing happiness or send the spin to another contestant to avoid risking a WHAMY. And when Michael starts playing, he doesn’t seem to be different from any other competitor. His obsession with the show and the lack of social skills leads to an awkward spoil with host Peter Tomarken (Walton GogginsOffers the ideal dose of tasty charm), but who pleases Caruthers and his army by producers in the control room, who see him as an Allman hero. His first turn at the wheel quickly results in a Whammy, and the show continues as planned.
But when the second round of spins rolls around, Michael continues to win. And winning. And winning. Even when he breaks the show’s prize money with a winning line that is almost statistically impossible, he refuses to pass a spin. With the show bleeding outstanding amounts of cash, Carruthers are forced to coordinate with lively network leaders at the same time as an investigation of Larson’s past at the same time. His possible results paint a portrait of a man whose obsession with this game show can be a bandage for a very deep wound.
“The Luckiest Man in America” is best when it reduces its focus on game exhibition drama. The stealthy behind the scenes Investigation of Larson’s behavior from the producers and the crew develops as an intricate ballet number during commercial breaks, and Hauser’s subtle facial expression and way illustrates how smart this mouse skirts the amount of cats chasing him. While Larson is a fascinating character within the boundaries of the enclosed thriller, they will have the moments when the film loses steam as it tries to explore his demons openly. A particularly ambitious sequence sees him to wander away from the sound and right into the stage in another talk show, where he continues to give an interview about his need to get closer to a family that no longer wants something with him. Both Scripture and Hauser’s spectacle are more than satisfying, but the moment feels like a misplaced arthouse key in a film that otherwise sticks to realism in its plot.
Still, Hauser’s performance as a man whose determination to use his unique talents to create the emotional contacts that otherwise avoid him keep the whole movie together. Game programs may not really have the cultural cache they did in 1984, but “the happiest man in America” still feels brutally relevant in 2024 to illustrate the ways people try to use parasocial relationships with entertainment to deal with voids in their lives that are not easily filled.
Rating: B+
“The Luckiest Man in America” will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival 2024. IFC films will release on April 4, 2025.
Want to keep you updated on IndieWire’s movie Reviews And critical thoughts? Subscribe here To our recently launched newsletter, in review by David Ehrlich, where our main film critic and Head Review’s editor rounds off the best reviews, streaming elections and offers some new Musings, all only available for subscribers.
