Jerry & Marge Go Large: Winning isn’t everything

Some people spend their entire lives trying to win Lotto.

Jerry Selbee entered once and won, then kept on winning — over and over again.

Over a 10-year period he and his wife Marge, together with their hometown syndicate, grossed more than $27 million in winnings.

It’s a fascinating story and one that has been brought to life in the 2022 film Jerry and Marge Go Large, starring Bryan Cranston and Annette Bening.

More than that, it is the tale of two people trying to reconnect, trying to re-ignite the flame of love as they grow older and come face to face with the realities of retirement.

It’s a fun, feel-good, sometimes funny film, one that is often touching, a big home run for the little man — and you’re going to love it.

Based on Jason Fagone’s 2018 story in the Huffington Post, Jerry and Marge Go Large is the handiwork of writer Brad Copeland who brought us the hilarious Wild Hogs (another film about getting older).

It was directed by David Frankel (Band of Brothers, The Devil Wears Prada).

You’ll be familiar with Cranston as Walter White from Breaking Bad and the excellent Malcolm in the Middle.

Bening will also be no stranger to audiences, although she has probably never received the recognition she deserves.

The Grifters (1990) earned her the first of several Academy award nominations.

Support comes from the funny Rainn Wilson as the store owner, Larry Wilmore as accountant Steve and Uly Schlesinger as Harvard bad boy Tyler.

We’re introduced to Jerry on his last day at work, clutching awkwardly at straws, offering to do odds and sods if work “needs” him.

He’s obviously not a people person and doesn’t seem overly keen on the small fishing runabout the kids give him as a retirement present.

A maths whizz, Jerry becomes interested in the WinFall numbers game after he picks up an entry form at the local store where he gets his morning coffee.

He spots a loophole in the structure of the game and decides to give it a crack.

But his first attempt fails and the inevitable self-doubt creeps in.

At first he is reluctant to tell his wife about what he has been up to.

The couple’s retirement savings are modest and he can’t afford any heavy losses, or he will be in deep shit.

However, not to be deterred, Jerry checks his figures and decides the best course of action is to go large, so he withdraws even more money from their savings account.

It works, but he hides his winnings in the pantry.

His wife Marge knows he’s up to something but when he finally confesses, she is quick to embrace the project as something that could bring them together — something she hopes will be fun.

As the couple become more and more successful, they decide to share their secret with family, friends and neighbours, setting up a company called GS Investment Strategies.

Jerry assures his investors they have nothing to fear, that everything is above board.

They keep all the paperwork in crates in a barn out the back in case they are ever audited by the IRS.

Fast forward and their success comes to the attention of a group of Harvard students who have also discovered the loophole.