Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (2003)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Highly entertaining documentary taking a look at Michael Larson, an out of work ice cream truck driver who made his way from Ohio to Los Angeles where he got on the Press Your Luck game show and ended up walking away with over $110,000. How did Larson do it? For months he studied the game at home and caught a pattern that would allow him to rack up the big bucks without hitting a whammy. To say this is the biggest scandal in game show history might be an understatement. There's certainly something interesting about what Larson did as some are going to call him a genius while others are going to call him a cheat. Personally speaking I can't help but call him a genius and I would never use the word cheat since there was a way to break the board and he found out how to do it. I think most of the blame has to go to the network for not having a plan in case something like this ever happened. The documentary does a very good job at telling the story of how a man from Ohio won a ton of cash from CBS who were pretty much dumbfounded by what was going on. The documentary features host Peter Tomarken talking about what was going on during the taping of the show but we also get interviews with the director, creator and others involved in the show including the two other contestants that Larson was going up against. The film also features the entire episode that was originally aired over two days but was never seen again until this documentary. Fans of the show or just scandals in general will certainly want to check this out as the entire thing is just bizarre to say the least.
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Highly entertaining documentary taking a look at Michael Larson, an out of work ice cream truck driver who made his way from Ohio to Los Angeles where he got on the Press Your Luck game show and ended up walking away with over $110,000. How did Larson do it? For months he studied the game at home and caught a pattern that would allow him to rack up the big bucks without hitting a whammy. To say this is the biggest scandal in game show history might be an understatement. There's certainly something interesting about what Larson did as some are going to call him a genius while others are going to call him a cheat. Personally speaking I can't help but call him a genius and I would never use the word cheat since there was a way to break the board and he found out how to do it. I think most of the blame has to go to the network for not having a plan in case something like this ever happened. The documentary does a very good job at telling the story of how a man from Ohio won a ton of cash from CBS who were pretty much dumbfounded by what was going on. The documentary features host Peter Tomarken talking about what was going on during the taping of the show but we also get interviews with the director, creator and others involved in the show including the two other contestants that Larson was going up against. The film also features the entire episode that was originally aired over two days but was never seen again until this documentary. Fans of the show or just scandals in general will certainly want to check this out as the entire thing is just bizarre to say the least.