The defence The Prestige Tourist
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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The Luckiest Man in America
Drama · History · Comedy · 2025
1984; Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio, steps onto the game show "Press Your Luck" harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak is threatened when the executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.
Movie details
The Luckiest Man in America
“What's behind his winning streak?”
2025 Drama · History · Comedy 1h 30m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.3 / 10
Community rating
1984; Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio, steps onto the game show "Press Your Luck" harboring a secret: the key to endless amounts of money. But his winning streak is threatened when the executives in the control room start to uncover his real motivations.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over The Luckiest Man in America?
For the defence
The Prestige Tourist
“You like your greatness pre-approved.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Popcorn Loyalist
“Big screen, big feelings, no apologies.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Apprentice
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Oslo
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Oranges and Sunshine
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The story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham, who uncovers one of the most significant social scandals in recent times – the forced migration of children from the United Kingdom to Australia and other Commonwealth countries. Almost singlehandedly, Margaret reunited thousands of families, brought authorities to account and worldwide attention to an extraordinary miscarriage of justice.
Too Big to Fail
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An intimate look at the epochal financial crisis of 2008 and the powerful men and women who decided the fate of the world's economy in a matter of a few weeks.
Find Me Guilty
Comedy · 2006
Based on the true story of Jack DiNorscio, a mobster who defended himself in court for what would be the longest mafia trial in U.S. history.
To Die For
Drama · 1995
Suzanne Stone wants to be a world-famous news anchor and she is willing to do anything to get what she wants. What she lacks in intelligence, she makes up for in cold determination and diabolical wiles. As she pursues her goal with relentless focus, she is forced to destroy anything and anyone that may stand in her way, regardless of the ultimate cost or means necessary.
The Big Short
Comedy · 2015
The men who made millions from a global economic meltdown.
War Dogs
Comedy · 2016
Based on the true story of two young men, David Packouz and Efraim Diveroli, who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America's allies in Afghanistan.
The Joneses
Comedy · 2010
A seemingly perfect family moves into a suburban neighborhood, but when it comes to the truth as to why they're living there, they don't exactly come clean with their neighbors.
...All the Marbles
Comedy · 1981
A two-bit promoter tries to take a women's wrestling team to the top.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Samir Oliveros
Written by
Samir Oliveros · Maggie Briggs · Amanda Freedman
Paul Walter Hauser
Michael
Walton Goggins
Peter
Shamier Anderson
Chuck
David Strathairn
Bill
Brian Geraghty
Ed
Patti Harrison
Janie
Maisie Williams
Sylvia
Court is in session
Put The Luckiest Man in America on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.