The Luckiest Man in America

Directed by Samir Oliveros, The Luckiest Man in America tells the true-life story of the man (Paul Walter Hauser’s Michael Larson) who figured out how to beat the game show Press Your Luck. It’s an inherently enthralling premise that’s employed to basically watchable yet disappointingly hit-and-miss effect by Oliveros, as the filmmaker, armed with his and Maggie Briggs’ screenplay, delivers an oddball drama that’s been suffused with an arms-length-inducing, fever-dream-like sensibility – with this vibe certainly reflected in (and heightened by) Pablo Lozano’s grainy, saturated cinematography and Andrés Velásquez’s persistently (and pervasively) off-kilter score. (The picture, by and large, admittedly does feel heavily inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love, although it rarely, if ever, achieves that endeavor’s highs.) There’s little doubt, then, that The Luckiest Man in America‘s mild success is due to its compelling subject matter and raft of first-class performances, with, in terms of the latter, Hauser’s top-notch, sympathetic turn certainly matched by eclectic periphery players like Walton Goggins, Maisie Williams, and Brian Geraghty. (David Strathairn’s appearance as the show’s co-creator remains an ongoing highlight in the proceedings, to be sure.) By the time the satisfying finale rolls around, The Luckiest Man in America has confirmed its place as a decent-enough piece of work that ultimately does feel like it could (and should) be much better.

**1/2 out of ****