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:

Lady Vegas

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

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

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.

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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

Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Written by Jack Norworth and Albert von Tilzer
Performed by Ruth Lewis

User Reviews

ensemble cast biopic that entertains, but not outstandingly

The pull of this film for me was the cast; Bruce Willis, Joshua Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Vince Vaughan... and that it looked a funny premise. I didn't realise it was based on a true story - the story of Beth (Beth Raymer) who leaves small town America to make a life for herself in the big city, bright lights of Vegas.

I always enjoy stories where girls build themselves up from nothing, doing whatever it takes and I liked Beth's outlook on life well played by Rebecca Hall light-heartedly and convincingly. Her character was flighty and silly, and it is nice to see such a story where horrible things didn't happen to her (lucky!) Other than the language in this film (the worst of which is from the Welsh lips of Ms Zeta-Jones, almost unrecognisable as American, Tulip both in terms of look and character) it's pretty innocent, some topless sunbathing excepting. Bruce Willis wasn't so Bruce Willis as usual and I liked his wayward yet lovable character and he brought some much needed contour to otherwise quite flat performances. During the film I did wonder why everyone was so one-dimensional but as it's a true story, they were I suppose just going with the story that happened - some of the reactions people had were unexplained, as were Beth's seemingly easy transitions. The gorgeous and talented Joshua Jackson was under-utilised in this film as an actor but seeing as it was a character-based biopic there's not much that could be done about that. Vince Vaughan managed to be exactly who he usually is in films, and Laura Prepon as Holly had a good, small part character role which she did really well in.

The film is about gambling so I didn't understand all that went on but there were moments where it was quite tense, given what was being done was illegal, but the end was predictable but as it's a true story why shouldn't it be? You cared enough about the characters that you did want a happy ending and it's nice that Beth's good personality and sunny disposition wins out and all is well. As films go - biopic aside - it's not that great as it wasn't particularly challenging or deep, and the main character's antics were naïve and rather silly, so you find her a little annoying, but she was plucky and from the point of view of the real person she did very well for herself. It is, what it is. It entertained for an hour or so but I'm glad I didn't see it at the cinema as I would have been disappointed as it wasn't as funny as I expected. It's definitely an average, middle of the road standard film on all counts; screenplay, direction and performances but it's worth watching.