The Luckiest Man in America

So much more than just an exploration of this anomalous oddball story and character who managed to outsmart the media. The focus on the control-room panic illustrates how these corporate narratives shape the myth of the American Dream.

It's difficult getting to know Larson or his drive, and he's portrayed as bashful and shrinking by Hauser.

It’s an example of how to make a low-budget movie that immerses you in a long-gone world and the minds of people who lived in it, all while maintaining a tight geographical focus on a small number of characters.

It is still fun to watch Michael and CBS compete for the upper hand.

With such a wealth of talent at its disposal, “The Luckiest Man in America” is strangely never as satisfying as it should be.

With Paul Walter Hauser capturing the specific quirks and buried anxieties of the titular “luckiest man,” it’s a film that provides a strange snapshot — even if it may fade away just as quickly.

The Luckiest Man in America is a well-acted character study that's fascinating but incomplete. This drama omits many interesting details of the real-life story of Michael Larson, who won a record-breaking 1984 jackpot on the game show Press Your Luck.

Loosely based on real life events, The Luckiest Man in America is a slight story with a kitschy 1980s sheen that succeeds because of star Paul Walter Hauser and the strong supporting cast.

Director Samir Oliveros offers little to justify the film’s existence, often struggling even to stretch this unique moment in television history into a reasonable 90 minutes of runtime.

Amusing at times and poignant at others, “The Luckiest Man in America” struggles when it employs surrealism to give depth to its protagonist and uses his story as a parable of broader cultural corruption.