Johnny Knoxville – STREAMING MOVIE NIGHT

Brains Beat Luck….

The Luckiest Man in America tells the incredible true story of Michael Larson, who stunned the world in 1984 by outsmarting the game show Press Your Luck and winning a record-breaking $110,237. Played by Paul Walter Hauser, Larson was an ordinary ice cream truck driver who spent months studying the game’s unique board patterns and discovered a secret to beating it. What looked like luck was really the result of careful planning, focus, and a clever brain.

Larson realized that the game’s “Big Board,” which determined prizes and “Whammy” losses, wasn’t random. By watching hundreds of hours of past episodes, he uncovered that the board repeated five specific patterns of lights. Knowing this, Larson memorized the order in which the prizes and Whammies appeared. This gave him the power to hit the big cash prizes again and again while avoiding the dreaded Whammies that would wipe out a player’s earnings. This method, known as the five pattern, turned the game, usually driven by chance, into a predictable challenge Larson could master. The movie shows how this secret strategy amazed the host, the crew, and the audience, making Larson’s winnings unbelievable and raising tough questions about fairness.

Hauser’s performance shines as he portrays Larson’s determination and focus, blending his nervousness with confident skill. The film also captures the tension behind the scenes as the show’s producers debate whether to stop Larson or ride the ratings boost his wins create. The movie’s pacing slows a little at times, but the story’s excitement and the ’80s vibe, enhanced by an energetic soundtrack, keep viewers engaged. The film goes beyond just the game, exploring how Larson’s cleverness and guts pay off against the odds and the challenges of playing against systems that don’t want to be beaten.

Life After the Big Win

The real Michael Larson’s life after his famous win was far from lucky. He lost much of his money in a real estate Ponzi scheme. On top of that, he withdrew $100,000 in $1 bills for a radio contest, but about half of it was stolen during a burglary while he was at a party. These events deeply affected Larson, even leading to personal conflicts. Larson drifted through jobs, including working as a Walmart assistant manager. Later, he got involved in a shady multi-level marketing scheme that defrauded thousands of investors. Facing federal investigations, he fled to Florida, where he lived away from the public eye until his death from throat cancer in 1999 at age 49.

The film doesn’t shy away from this darker side, showing that Larson’s life was a mix of brilliance and tragedy, where a historic win didn’t guarantee a happy ending. Even if you already know the ending, The Luckiest Man in America puts you right in the middle of this thrilling and thoughtful true story about luck, skill, courage and the harsh realities that sometimes follow.

Worth a watch if you love True Stories and this one is a Doozy!

The Real Michael Larson on the left and Paul Walter Hauser as Michael Larson On The Right.

2021 Lionsgate

Rated: R

Length: 1 hr 44min

Action ~ Crime ~ Thriller ~ True Story

Directed by: Phillip Noyce

Starring: Emilia Clarke, Jack Huston, Sophie Lowe, Austin Hébert, Karl Glusman, Chris Mulkey, Omar Miller, Kevin Dunn, Thora Birch and Johnny Knoxville.

“That’s the way the devil comes. He don’t come to you as evil. He don’t come to you on fire. He comes as everything you ever wanted. He comes to you as you.”

Emilia Clarke stars as Susan Smith, a divorced mother still living with her ex-husband in Harlan County, Kentucky. Her ex husband Cash (Johnny Knoxville) is a drug dealer and they are both addicted to drugs. Economically there are not many options in town and Susan and Cash survive on welfare checks and drug money. For the sake of their children and economic reasons they live in the same trailer just outside of town, where they also throw parties and sell drugs.

Jack Huston stars as FBI Agent Mark Putnam. Mark has just moved to town with his wife and new baby to investigate a series of bank robberies. The suspect Joe B is currently residing with Susan and Cash along with his girlfriend in the trailer. As Mark investigates the trail of Joe B, it leads him to Cash and Susan. He attempts to convince Cash to cooperate and become an informant but soon realizes that he has a better chance of getting Susan to co-operate.

Susan willingly becomes his informant, already infatuated with this new dark haired stranger in her life. She sees Mark as a way out of the dead end existence she is living and the two quickly become romantically involved. Their relationship becomes very entangled and dangerous for Mark who realizes he is putting his Marriage and career at great risk. He tries to break it off with Susan but she refuses to let go. Mark eventually puts in a transfer request for a different field office and moves his family to Florida.

The movie follows the story of Mark and Susan and their tumultuous affair and horrific ending. After returning to Pikesville, Kentucky to wrap up a case, Mark tries to talk to Susan one last time about letting go. They go for a ride out to the mountain and Susan becomes very agitated and violent at Mark’s insistence that the baby she says she’s carrying is not his. A violent fight ensues and Mark strangles Susan, drops her body in the woods and goes back to Florida.

Over the course of the following year Mark Putnam can’t escape his guilt and remorse and confesses to the crime of killing Susan Smith. Mark was sentenced to 16 years in prison, served ten, and is now re-married and living in Georgia. He was the first FBI Agent to ever be convicted of Murder.

I love the True Story movies and this is one hell of a story. Adultery, jealousy and a crime of passion. I am not familiar with Emilia Clarke but I love her in this. Jack Huston is also very good in this role. Johnny Knoxville does an outstanding job as the drug dealer Cash. I have watched this movie three times now and I would watch it again. It is a great story and movie, but I think that Emilia Clarke’s performance as Susan Smith is absolutely riveting and is what really keeps me coming back.

Highly Recommended!

Two Thumbs Up!