The Luckiest Man in America Review: Paul Walter Hauser Is Dynamic As Game Show Contestant

Paul Walter Hauser Endearingly Presses His Luck as The Luckiest Man in America

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Michael Larson’s Wikipedia page recounts the story of a man who has lived one hell of a life. For the most part, however, The Luckiest Man in America is only interested in a single day of it.

The year is 1984. After being taken pity on by producer Bill Carruthers (David Strathairn) following a bumbling audition, ice cream seller Michael Larson (Paul Walter Hauser) is cast as a contestant on the popular TV quiz show Press Your Luck. The game sees the contestants asked trivia questions for the chance to take on the “Big Board.” That board is full of prizes–cash and holidays–but also contains “Whammys,” which will take the contestant back down to zero. The players try to hit a buzzer at the right time, choosing when to keep going, and when to settle for the prizes they have, so as not to run the risk of hitting any Whammys, and losing everything.

At first, Michael’s success on the Big Board just appears like good luck. But the more he keeps winning, blasting through the show’s previous records, the more it seems like something nefarious might be going on. The Luckiest Man In America follows both Michael’s on-camera game, and the frantic scrabble behind-the-scenes to work out what is happening.

Although Larson’s life was packed with movie-worthy events, the decision of writer-director Samir Oliveros and co-scribe Maggie Briggs to keep their focus narrow turns out to be a (largely) good one. It’s easy to imagine a version of this film that purely played like a live-action rundown of that Wikipedia page, ticking off the pertinent facts without fleshing out the emotional details, or doing anything to make the action cinematic. Oliveros and Briggs craft a feature that’s richer than that, and much more evocative. It could be fairly said, however, that they sometimes drift too far down the opposite track; there are instances where a little extra detail would have been welcome, especially in regards to Larson’s life before he turned up at the CBS studios.

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Oliveros’ direction focuses on the high-key unreality of being on a game show; the flashing lights, the spinning sets, the audiences told when to clap and when to boo. Press Your Luck is referred to as the “most Vegas” game show on television, and we can see how easily contestants could be hypnotized into gambling away their winnings. The temptation toward risk is impossible to resist. Though it’s set mostly in one location, Oliveros’ camera floats and weaves and bobs, maintaining a dynamism, while simultaneously giving us a practical idea of how the different parts of the studio relate to one another. His direction is an intriguing, successful mix of the dreamlike and the tangible.

In the middle of all this woozy grandeur is, of course, Michael Larson – definitively played by Paul Walter Hauser. The role of Larson feels written for Hauser, who is always so deft at making shady, slightly unhinged characters surprisingly endearing. Although we spend much of the movie not knowing precisely what he is doing, or why he is doing it, Hauser leads us to root for him anyway. And when we do discover what he’s up to, that there remains a level of ambiguity as to where it’s even cheating makes him all the more sympathetic. (Nevertheless, it’s worthy of note that if some of the other pertinent details on Larson had been included, our perception of his shenanigans would have likely been very different).

The Luckiest Man in America is likewise blessed with a terrific supporting cast. David Strathairn is typically excellent as the man who is kind of running the show, steadily revealing an undercurrent of weaselly desperation to Bill’s smooth, avuncular exterior. Walton Goggins makes a charming (and as a mid-credits scene shows, impressively accurate) Peter Tomarken, the game show’s host. Shamier Anderson is good in one of the richer supporting roles as the movie’s detective Chuck, who’s determined to discover the truth about Larson, but as a young Black man working with mostly white, mostly older people, is deeply vulnerable when the production team starts throwing blame around. Patti Harrison and Haley Bennett are underused, but they make the most of their scant screentime.

As a 90 minute, largely set all-in-one-day tale of an 80’s game show scandal, there is an unavoidable triviality to The Luckiest Man in America. Only Robert Redford’s 1994 Quiz Show has managed to approach a similar event with any real gravitas or prestige, and that particular scandal led to House Committee hearings. The import and fallout of Larson’s scheme paled in comparison.

Still, though it’s a slighter production, Oliveros’s film still has plenty to recommend it, with his smart direction and a raft of fun performances making for an engaging hour and half. And with so much more of Larson’s life story left to plunder, don’t be surprised if you see another movie based on him heading our way soon–if that does happen, here’s hoping Hauser reprises his role.

Director: Samir Oliveros
Writers: Samir Oliveros, Maggie Briggs
Stars: Paul Walter Hauser, David Strathairn, Walton Goggins, Shamier Anderson, Patti Harrison, Maisie Williams, Johnny Knoxville, Haley Bennett
Release Date: April 4, 2025

Chloe Walker is a writer based in the UK. You can read her work at Culturefly, the BFI, Podcast Review, and Paste.

Paul Walter Hauser Endearingly Presses His Luck as The Luckiest Man in America