Lay the Favorite (2012)

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:

Stephen Frears

Writers:

D.V. DeVincentis (screenplay), Beth Raymer (memoir)

Stars:

Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rebecca Hall	...	Beth
Joel Murray	...	Darren
Hugo Armstrong	...	Customer
Corbin Bernsen	...	Jerry
Earl Maddox	...	Manager
Rio Hackford	...	Magic
Jo Newman	...	Darcy
Laura Prepon	...	Holly
Bruce Willis	...	Dink Heimowitz
Frank Grillo	...	Frankie
Wayne Pére	...	Scott (as Wayne Péré)
Adam Kozlowski	...	Rio Gambler 1
Al Brown	...	Old Gambler
Thom Sesma	...	Young Guy
Rusty Meyers	...	Rio Gambler 2

Storyline

Beth, who lap dances to make ends meet, leaves Florida for Las Vegas hoping to be a cocktail waitress. She meets two women who introduce her to Dink, a gambler with a system. He hires her - she's good with numbers - and she promptly falls for him, even though he's married to a woman who seems to do nothing but spend his money. Beth tries to entice Dink whose wife, Tulip, tells him to choose; he does and promptly goes on a losing streak. The repercussions of his choice play out with a heavy gambler who has a parole officer, a cheesy bookmaker in Curaçao, Beth's desire to keep a friend out of prison, and help from an unlikely source.

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Plot Keywords:

panties | white panties | gambler | waitress | losing streak | 

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Taglines:

How far can a losing shot take you?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language throughout, some sexual content, brief drug use, and nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA UK France

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

22 June 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Lay the Favorite

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$26,350,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,998, 9 December 2012

Gross USA:

$20,998

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$1,577,272

Company Credits

Production Co:

Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films), Wild Bunch, Random House Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Carroll Lynch and Bruce Willis appeared in Mercury Rising (1998).

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Goofs

At the end when Reedmore is at the foul line there is supposedly no time left on the clock (according to a graphic put up in the movie) yet there are players standing on either side of the lane. If there really was no time left on the clock the players would be at their benches since there would be no need to get a possible rebound.

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Quotes

Dink Heimowitz: Hey, you know when don't need to be taken care of anymore? It's when you decide to start taking care of someone else.

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Connections

Featured in Projector: Lay the Favorite (2012)

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Soundtracks

First Call
(uncredited)
Traditional

User Reviews

This movie was awful.

I'm generally a fan of comedies, and tend to prefer intelligent comedies to most dramas. Lay The Favorite wasn't funny, it wasn't entertaining and it felt so scattered that it was hard to follow any of the character's motivations. This felt like one of those movies where they just wanted to have a bunch of named stars so they could have fun on set. If the movie was allowed to be slightly slower or if they allowed the movie to be slightly longer it might have been able to gain footing but in it's current state by the time you've figured out why someone is doing something they're already four moves ahead of that. If you just want to see southern women depicted as ditsy sex objects and older men that wear Hawaiian shirts and gamble then this movie is for you.