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IMDbPro

Lay the Favorite

  • 20122012
  • RR
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
12K
YOUR RATING
Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joshua Jackson, and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
Beth, a Las Vegas cocktail waitress, falls in Dink, a sports gambler who swoons for her as she proves to be something of a gambling prodigy, earning the initial ire of Dink's wife, Tulip.
Play trailer1:45
3 Videos
46 Photos
ComedyDramaRomance
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... Read allEx-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.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.
IMDb RATING
4.8/10
12K
YOUR RATING
    • Stephen Frears
    • D.V. DeVincentis(screenplay)
    • Beth Raymer(memoir)
  • Stars
    • Rebecca Hall
    • Bruce Willis
    • Vince Vaughn
    • Stephen Frears
    • D.V. DeVincentis(screenplay)
    • Beth Raymer(memoir)
  • Stars
    • Rebecca Hall
    • Bruce Willis
    • Vince Vaughn
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 49User reviews
    • 113Critic reviews
    • 38Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards

    Videos3

    Theatrical Version
    Trailer 1:45
    Watch Theatrical Version
    U.K. Version
    Trailer 2:01
    Watch U.K. Version
    "Air Supply"
    Clip 1:00
    Watch "Air Supply"

    Photos46

    Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Joshua Jackson and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Frears, and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis and Stephen Frears in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Vince Vaughn and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Vince Vaughn in Lay the Favorite (2012)
    Bruce Willis and Rebecca Hall in Lay the Favorite (2012)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Rebecca Hall
    Rebecca Hall
    • Beth
    Bruce Willis
    Bruce Willis
    • Dink Heimowitz
    Vince Vaughn
    Vince Vaughn
    • Rosie
    Catherine Zeta-Jones
    Catherine Zeta-Jones
    • Tulip
    Joel Murray
    Joel Murray
    • Darren
    Hugo Armstrong
    Hugo Armstrong
    • Customer
    Corbin Bernsen
    Corbin Bernsen
    • Jerry
    Earl Maddox
    • Manager
    Rio Hackford
    • Magic
    Jo Newman
    Jo Newman
    • Darcy
    Laura Prepon
    Laura Prepon
    • Holly
    Frank Grillo
    Frank Grillo
    • Frankie
    Wayne Pére
    Wayne Pére
    • Scott
    • (as Wayne Péré)
    Adam Kozlowski
    • Rio Gambler 1
    Al Brown
    Al Brown
    • Old Gambler
    Thom Sesma
    Thom Sesma
    • Young Guy
    Rusty Meyers
    Rusty Meyers
    • Rio Gambler 2
    Wendell Pierce
    Wendell Pierce
    • Dave the Rave
      • Stephen Frears
      • D.V. DeVincentis(screenplay)
      • Beth Raymer(memoir)
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Justin Timberlake was considered for Rosie, but Vince Vaughn was cast.
    • 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.
    • Quotes

      Customer: You should be scared. It's a healthy reaction to a big ass gun like that.

    • Connections
      Featured in Projector: Lay the Favorite (2012)
    • Soundtracks
      Unskinny Bop
      Written by C.C. DeVille (as Johannesson), Bobby Dall (as Kuykendall), Bret Michaels (as Sychak), Rikki Rockett (as Ream)

      Performed by Poison

    User reviews49

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    5/10
    Tried to turn an unbelievable true story into a fun ride but forgot about the stupidity
    "Lay the Favorite" has many dissenters, most complaining that it's completely unbelievable. It's true, it is. Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a ditzy bimbo who quits her job as a stripper and moves to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress. A great idea! Instead, as soon as she arrives, she gets a very lucrative job as a sports bettor for a bookie who isn't a bookie since bookmaking is illegal. She's a genius with numbers and words.

    She's also capable of getting guys to do whatever they think she wants. They need to do the thinking since she's too dumb to even know what she wants. The kicker to this story of an over-sexed, ditzy bimbo, numbers genius, sports-betting millionaire, is that it's a true story. I decided to watch the YouTube video of the real Beth Raymer reading from her memoir which this film is based on to see if Hall accurately captured her varying characteristics. And she did. She does the hair twirl and the dumb girl giggle as she describes the kings of sports gambling giving her job after job after job.

    I'm one of the few who liked Rebecca Hall in this. So different from her usual indie fare. She has to ooze sex and play beautiful even though she has never really been described that way before. But in order to like this movie at all, you need to care about this floozy. Other than her ridiculous free ride through life, nothing really interesting happens to her.

    Her first job in Vegas is with Dink (Bruce Willis) who owns Dink Inc. She loves him, he loves her … mind? Yeah, right. Apparently he does. So when she gets herself in trouble along with a nice, smart successful guy (Joshua Jackson) who doesn't seem to mind throwing his life away for her, he comes to the rescue.

    Personally, I found Hall's sexy naiveté and Willis' extreme gambling entertaining enough to keep watching. However, the movie doesn't seem to play the unfortunate reality that this is a true story for laughs. When there's a story too unbelievable to be true then you should be making fun of everybody who allowed it to occur, instead the film just wanted the audience to go along for a fun ride. It is somewhat fun, it's also very unbelievable, and ultimately, pretty stupid.

    Who Might Like This: Anybody who likes seeing ditzy bimbos succeed in life; people who like watching unbelievably true stories; fans of Rebecca Hall.
    helpful•20
    7
    • napierslogs
    • May 19, 2013

    FAQ1

    • Is this film based on a novel?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 22, 2012 (United Kingdom)
      • United States
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • Official site (Japan)
      • English
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
    • Filming locations
      • Caesars Palace - 3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
    • Production companies
      • Emmett/Furla/Oasis Films (EFO Films)
      • Wild Bunch
      • Random House Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • 1 hour 34 minutes
      • Color
      • Dolby Digital

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