Big Bucks

D.W. Dillon
Las Vegas, NV

Big Bucks

Directed by Wes Anderson
Written by Wes Anderson
Music by Mark Mothersbaugh

Principal Cast:
Paul Giamatti as Michael Larson
Willem Dafoe as Peter Tomarken
Beth Grant as Teresa Dinwitty
Cary Elwes as Ed Long
Robin Tunney as Janie Litras
Paul McCrane as Michael Brockman

Tagline: "You don't need to press your luck to beat the game."

Synopsis:
Chocolate, vanilla and cookie dough, butter-pecan and Rocky Road and on and on it goes for Michael Larson (Paul Giamatti), the grizzly ice cream man with a dream. A rich dream, and we're not talking about chocolate. His longtime girlfriend Teresa thought TV-dinners on tray tables in the living room, watching game shows like "Press Your Luck" was a fun bonding experience. Little did she know, it was Michael's true obsession. He had found the key to a better life by memorizing the so-called random patterns on the game show's money board. Armed with the pause and slow-motion buttons on his remote and VCR, he studied the lights glowing across the money board as the patterns passed through the infamous money-draining "whammies" and over the "big bucks" and prizes. He sought out the five light patterns to avoid those pesky whammies and score the big bucks.

The get-rich-quick scheme seemed full-proof, yet his love-life began to take the hits as he devoted his days and nights to beating the game, Teresa began growing frustrated. She was not a priority and tried hard to prove to her love that materialistic things didn't matter. Michael would hear none of it as his delusions of grandeur dominated the household until it was time for him to finally press his luck.

"Have you ever overdosed on ice cream?" asked the famous game show host, Peter Tomarken (Willem Dafoe) to the coy Michael Larson, who nodded his head no. "Well, let's hope you don't O.D. on money", and little did Peter Tomarken know, no truer words were ever going to be said on the show. Having perfected the patterns of the game show's money board, the patterns didn't translate so well up-close and live as Michael Larson finished in last place at the end of the first round, behind the annoying dental assistant, Janie Litras (Robin Tunney) and the friendly Baptist preacher, Ed Long (Cary Elwes). By the second round, the ice cream man had mastered the timing and would bulldoze his way past the preacher earning over $110,000, and facing the futile dental assistant in the final round, who lacked not only chances to win, but the secret to win as well. Head of programming at CBS, Michael Brockman (Paul McCrane) sought out to prove Michael Larson was nothing more than a cheater. Well-respected host Tomarken did not want his game show or reputation tarnished and would fight Brockman the whole way for Larson. In Larson's own defense, he proclaimed, "It's as if I had cracked the books and won on Jeopardy!". He was finally awarded his money, but the ice cream man's journey was far from over.

While mastering the art of getting rich quick, the newly married Michael Larson didn't think to master the art of being rich. While attending a Christmas Party with his wife Teresa, the simplistic nature and carelessness of Michael cost him almost half his winnings, coming home to a broken house and finding an empty shoe box that had once contained $50,000. With no desire to peddle ice cream, and coming so close to financial freedom, he would fly out to the studios and try to convince Brockman to let him back on another game show. Teresa had enough, and with no prospects and his wife a past memory, Michael found himself battling throat cancer and mild dementia. A chance encounter outside the CBS building, on his way to receive his pilot's license, Peter Tomarken would come face to face with the man who broke his game show. Holding no grudge unlike the producers that paid him, Tomarken who tried to always find the genius in people, was always amazed by Larson offered a helpful hand, to which the former ice cream man shyly declined.

Larson's poor investment into Ponzi scheme left him broke and on the run from the authorities. With Robert Redford's "Quiz Show" playing on television, small piles of change scattered the night stand in his motel room, cancer took the contestant's final breathe. Seven years later, a cancer patient laid waiting to be picked up and flown to UCLA for treatment. At the same time, Peter Tomarken and his wife, prepared their Beachcraft Bonanza plane for take off. On route to transport the much needed cancer patient. Their noble volunteer efforts with a non-profit organization to transport sick patients to treatment was not without inspiration. Though shortly after their take-off, engine trouble consumed the fate of the Tomarkens. Whether it be luck or fate, life is full of prizes and whammies.

What the Press Will Say?
Acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson brings his quirky and sentimental style to the most famous game show performance of all time. Big Bucks tells the story of ice cream man Michael Larson (played by Paul Giamatti) and how he discovers a way to legitimately beat the game show "Press Your Luck", his life spirals up and down as he struggles to balance his success, fame and life in. Packed with a killer eclectic soundtrack from the likes of Fishbone, The Pogues, Eels and Morrissey, we are delighted in the experience and triumph of Michael Larson and saddened in his fall. In the lead role of of the determined yet jolly ice cream man turned game show hero Michael Larson, Paul Giamatti's performance is a tour de force. His ability to draw us into Larson's buckled down drive to become more than your average joe resonates within the human condition, as well as his desperate pleas and attempts to gain back the greatness he once achieved. On his quest for the brass ring are a plethora of eccentric characters who challenge him, whether it be on a game show for money or in the game of life and love. Beth Grant as Larson's devoted love interest Teresa Dinwitty is comforting and somber, with her breaking point coinciding with his own. While Teresa is the catalyst to Larson's emotional journey, Peter Tomarken (played by Willem Dafoe) embodies the success and wonderment Larson so as desires. Dafoe's most colorful and charismatic performance since Nosferatu in Shadow of the Vampire. Wes Anderson hones in and masters the grandeur he has always set out for, and came close to achieve with The Royal Tenenbaums, and finally finds in Big Bucks. Precision filmmaking and mesmerizing performances capture three decades in the life of a man who reached for the stars.

Best Picture
Best Director - Wes Anderson
Best Actor - Paul Giamatti
Best Supporting Actor - Willem Dafoe
Best Supporting Actress - Beth Grant
Best Original Screenplay - Wes Anderson