HotToastyRag What a fun flick! In Lay the Favorite, Rebecca Hall shows off her acting chops by playing a character she never usually plays. From England, Rebecca usually plays a strong, self-sufficient woman, and in this comedy, she plays a gum-chewing, low-class bimbo from Florida who falls for a married gambler. She's never been prettier, and in my opinion, she's never been more likable.With her curls bouncing as much as her personality, Rebecca finds herself lap-dancing in Las Vegas with dreams no higher than becoming a cocktail waitress. She meets for master gambler Bruce Willis and goes to work for him in his bookie joint. While she develops feelings for him, he's merely enamored with her work talents-after all, he is married to the beautiful and jealous Catherine Zeta-Jones!Depending on how well you know your date-and whether or not he's married-this would be an adorable film to rent for a cute date night. It's funny, sassy, interesting, and Rebecca does a great job. I liked her so much in Lay the Favorite that I didn't realize it was the same actress I had seen in other, completely different roles! She and Bruce have a darling rapport together, and you'll find yourself rooting for them despite your better judgment.

Floated2 Lay the Favorite stars Rebecca Hall as an ex-stripper and Bruce Willis as an ageing Las Vegas bookie. But nothing comes good in the script. It is as flat and the writing is noticeable. We can now see why the film was not shown wide in America. The affection between Beth and Dink feels a lot more genuine, with Willis delivering a finely tuned performance. Hall bounces off him with comically goggle-eyed expressions but she comes across more clumsy than needed. This film is listed as a comedy and drama but it really is neither funny, nor it is as dramatic as one should be for a sports betting film. It is also utterly predictable, specifically its ending.

Ed-Shullivan Lay the Favorite ends on a happy note, but as statistics prove over and over again there are more broke and desolate people as a result of addictive gambling than there are happy winners. I enjoyed the solid acting in Lay the Favorite, and there was a Disney like theme involved, but some of the movie content is for an adult only audience. The movie revolves around a young ambitious girl named Beth (played by Rebecca Hall), who is trying to find a job that will fulfill her as a person and that excites her. Making house calls with her boom box and stripping for strange men just does not fill that void for Rebecca so she moves out to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress. Through a few chance meetings she ends up working for a private bookmaker who bets only on himself and whose name is Dink Heimowitz (played by Bruce Willis). Dink is assisted by two of his cronies and a few female runners who lay his bets off for him with the Vegas bookmakers. Dink decides to hire Beth as one of his bet runners because she is young, bright, good with numbers, and initially brings Dink some good luck. Dink has a beautiful wife (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) who does not appreciate the young bet runners that Dink prefers to hire and she lets Dink and the girls know to stay clear of her man. One of the other big gamblers who aspires to run his own bookmaking ring is a guy named Rosie (played by Vince Vaughn). Dink will deal with Rosie but he doesn't trust him because he believes all gamblers are only looking out for themselves.I did enjoy the movie, but I felt it provides an unrealistic view of the life of the heavy bettor. Lay the Favorite portrays Dink and Rosie as two bookies who always seem to come out on top, and have no worries in the world. Although this is a comedy so it is not to be taken seriously I have a soft spot for gamblers as I have seen too many fall in to despair and a life long rut of quiet losses and sudden hibernation until they come in to a bit of money again so they can get back on the cycle of gambling for another run. Beth eventually leaves Dink's employment and she also leaves her down to earth boyfriend Jeremy from New York (played by Joshua Jackson) and goes to work for Rosie on a sunny island. Beth quickly learns that Rosie is not a very nice man and that Rosie is who Dink said he was. Beth realizes that she needs to get back to New York and help her boyfriend Jeremy out of any potential criminal charges related to the gambling book that she asked Jeremy to oversee while she worked with Rosie on the islands.The movie ends with a lot of lives having to rely on the outcome of a basketball game. This is by no means a Disney movie but it may as well have been since the movie's ending had everyone involved in a love fest. Heavy gambling as outlined in Lay the Favorite should not be portrayed with characters as nice and clean as in this movie feature, because this is not reality. Gambling has negatively affected too many people's lives and their extended families lives as well. There is a good Disney message with the underdogs attaining victory in this movie but keep it real folks, gambling is an addiction and an illness which calls out for a cure, not a romantic comedy.

Danielle If you can get through the excruciating first half of this movie, it's fairly entertaining. The first 45 minutes are confusing and dull as hell, and I almost turned it off (watching on DVD) because I just didn't care about the people or the events unfolding. How can you set a movie in Vegas, and have this amazing cast, and end up with such a mediocre result? It's based on a memoir that, by all accounts, is funny and extremely entertaining, but something clearly has been lost during the translation to the screen. The second half is better - it comes together, the characters become a bit more multi-dimensional, and there finally seems to be some point. But overall, this movie is a wasted opportunity and it's greatest value may be for insomniacs.