MOVIEmeter
Top 5000
Down 218 this week

Lay the Favorite (2012)

 -  Comedy  -  22 June 2012 (UK)
4.7
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 4.7/10 from 3,941 users   Metascore: 38/100
Reviews: 21 user | 92 critic | 17 from Metacritic.com

Ex-private dancer Beth aspires to be a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, when she falls in with Dink, a sports gambler. Sparks fly as she proves to be something of a gambling prodigy--much to the ire of Dink's wife, Tulip.

Director:

Writers:

(memoir), (screenplay)
Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 51 images created 15 Feb 2012
 
a list of 10000 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 3627 titles created 4 weeks ago
 
a list of 616 titles created 2 months ago
 
a list of 592 titles created 11 months ago
 

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: Lay the Favorite (2012)

Lay the Favorite (2012) on IMDb 4.7/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of Lay the Favorite.

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Why Stop Now (2012)
Comedy | Drama
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.2/10 X  

When a college piano prodigy tries to check his mother into rehab, he is taken hostage by her drug dealer and swept along on a wild adventure.

Directors: Phil Dorling, Ron Nyswaner
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Melissa Leo, Tracy Morgan
This Is 40 (2012)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

A look at the lives of Pete and Debbie a few years after the events of Knocked Up.

Director: Judd Apatow
Stars: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Maude Apatow
The Big Year (2011)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

Two bird enthusiasts try to defeat the cocky, cutthroat world record holder in a year-long bird-spotting competition.

Director: David Frankel
Stars: Jack Black, Zahf Paroo, Owen Wilson
The Watch I (2012)
Comedy | Sci-Fi
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.7/10 X  

Four men who form a neighborhood watch group as a way to get out of their day-to-day family routines find themselves defending the Earth from an alien invasion.

Director: Akiva Schaffer
Stars: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.2/10 X  

One year after meeting, Tom proposes to his girlfriend, Violet, but unexpected events keep tripping them up as they look to walk down the aisle together.

Director: Nicholas Stoller
Stars: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Chris Pratt
Comedy | Drama | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.9/10 X  

After a stint in a mental institution, former teacher Pat Solitano moves back in with his parents and tries to reconcile with his ex-wife. Things get more challenging when Pat meets Tiffany, a mysterious girl with problems of her own.

Director: David O. Russell
Stars: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro
The Sitter (2011)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.6/10 X  

A college student on suspension is coaxed into babysitting the kids next door, though he is fully unprepared for the wild night ahead of him.

Director: David Gordon Green
Stars: Jonah Hill, Max Records, Ari Graynor
Wanderlust (2012)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.6/10 X  

Rattled by sudden unemployment, a Manhattan couple surveys alternative living options, ultimately deciding to experiment with living on a rural commune where free love rules.

Director: David Wain
Stars: Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux
The Campaign (2012)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.1/10 X  

In order to gain influence over their North Carolina district, two CEOs seize an opportunity to oust long-term congressman Cam Brady by putting up a rival candidate. Their man: naive Marty Huggins, director of the local Tourism Center.

Director: Jay Roach
Stars: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.8/10 X  

Former college frenemies Lauren and Katie move into a fabulous Gramercy Park apartment, and in order to make ends meet, the unlikely pair start a phone sex line together.

Director: Jamie Travis
Stars: Lauren Miller, James Wolk, Ari Graynor
That's My Boy (2012)
Comedy
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 5.5/10 X  

While in his teens, Donny fathered a son, Todd, and raised him as a single parent up until Todd's 18th birthday. Now, after not seeing each other for years, Todd's world comes crashing down when Donny resurfaces just before Todd's wedding.

Director: Sean Anders
Stars: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Leighton Meester
Comedy | Romance
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.6/10 X  

While trying to avoid the clichés of Hollywood romantic comedies, Dylan and Jamie soon discover however that adding the act of sex to their friendship does lead to complications.

Director: Will Gluck
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Patricia Clarkson
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
Beth
...
Darren
...
Customer
...
Jerry
Earl Maddox ...
Manager
...
Magic
...
Darcy
...
Holly
...
...
Frankie
...
Scott (as Wayne Péré)
Adam Kozlowski ...
Rio Gambler 1
...
Old Gambler
Thom Sesma ...
Young Guy
...
Rio Gambler 2
Edit

Storyline

Ex-private dancer Beth aspires to be a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, when she falls in with Dink, a sports gambler. Sparks fly as she proves to be something of a gambling prodigy--much to the ire of Dink's wife, Tulip.

Add Full Plot | Add Synopsis

Genres:

Comedy

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, brief drug use, and nudity | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

22 June 2012 (UK)  »

Also Known As:

Lady Vegas  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$26,350,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,998 (USA) (7 December 2012)

Gross:

$20,998 (USA) (7 December 2012)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

Justin Timberlake was considered for Rosie, but Vince Vaughn was cast. See more »

Goofs

During the televised basketball game in the closing minutes of the film, the storyline is that the game is down to no time left on the clock, and the NJ player, Reedmore, has the chance to make 2 foul shots to beat LA. When the baseline camera focuses on the player's face, though, the time clock over the hoop at the other end of the court is visible, and the clock plainly reads 6:40 left in the game. See more »

Connections

Featured in Projector: Lay the Favorite (2012) See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Don't bet on it...
26 June 2012 | by (Ireland) – See all my reviews

Until a friend suggested going to see this movie, I hadn't even heard of it, and other than what I gathered from skimming the synopsis in the cinema-foyer listings-leaflet -it seemed to be some kind of comedy, and starred Bruce Willis as a gambler-, I wasn't sure what it was about.

And now, after sitting through all ninety-four incoherent, enervating minutes of it, I'm still not sure. One of my friends, who is usually uncritical and easily entertained, said he thought that "The Tree of Life" made more sense than this film.

Unlike Terrence Malick's "metaphysical masterpiece" however, there is no confusion here as to what the subject matter is (it's the life of professional gamblers), what is confusing is how that subject matter is presented, and how the narrative is (or isn't) constructed around it. For example, what was the intended tone of the movie, what was the film-maker trying to convey? Was it supposed to be amusing? entertaining? or moving? were we supposed to be excited, or to feel intellectually stimulated? Who knows. My main emotional reaction to the film was a kind of repulsion, because I felt like I was being exploited, like the film was insulting my intelligence and my basic humanity. Like I might expect to feel if I'd been suckered into spending an evening feeding coins to a slot machine.

The first 10 minutes were slightly amusing to be fair, but after that that it just descends into complete mind-numbing absurdity. You might think Vince Vaughn would offer some comic-relief but, for the brief appearances he makes, he's just going through the motions (though it's still the most convincing and consistent performance of the movie).

There was no tension, or intrigue, at all, for the first seventy minutes. I mean nothing seems to really matter to any of the characters, they behave so unrealistically, and incoherently. And when things finally seem to get real and there is some adversity for the characters to face, you just don't care because you can't feel sympathy for such pantomime puppets as these.

They could have gone more into the details, the mechanics, of the gambling operation, that might have been interesting, but they thought it would be better to pad the story out with completely vapid romantic-interest scenes.

Maybe, with the attraction of Willis, Zeta-Jones, Vaughn, (and Rebecca Hall's legs), it was thought that such things as humour, narrative direction, consistency and pacing, character development, etc., were unnecessary.

After seeing the movie, I learned that it was adapted from a book, that at least goes some way towards explaining why there were so many undeveloped, seemingly irrelevant details, obviously included for the sake of those that have read it. For example, Holly (Laura Pripon's character) keeps warning Beth that she is becoming "one of us", in the book there might be context for this but when you watch the film you're just like "what is this I don't even...."

But, even for those that have read the book, maybe more-so, this film will only bemuse and bewilder. While I'm informed the book was written in a 'picaresque' -and no doubt droll (not to mention self-deprecating) style-, on screen, without the benefit of a narrator, this translates into characters, like Beth, who starts off as some kind of cartoon-airhead-bimbo-stripper, sunbathing with baby-oil on her back, ending up as an extraordinarily articulate, mathematical genius, who goes on to become a writer... Rebecca Hall was a bad choice.

And another thing, I couldn't help feeling that this film was not-too-subtly trying to indoctrinate me. Maybe I'm just paranoid but, beyond just the obvious product placements (nice Mercedes being driven by Bruce Willis' Mr. Nice character), it's like they're glamorizing the lifestyle, and completely glossing over any moral issues, and Beth just follows the money from Las Vegas to New York to Curaçao -are we supposed to admire that, to forget about community, and meaningful relationships, just go where the money is and keep working and consuming?-.

Whatever, I've wasted enough time on this drivel already, please heed my warning and don't waste yours.


38 of 56 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
The Score, The Script, The Acting, The Filming... WOW. Shazam-O
why i'll be watching.. angellcakes
Distribution nrobad899
Wendell Pierce is on the cast jay-948
Clip nrobad899
Not bad.. limmitedgravity
Discuss Lay the Favorite (2012) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?