Lay the Favorite

Lay the Favoriteis a 2012 Americancomedy-drama filmdirected byStephen Frearsand written by D.V. DeVincentis, and starsBruce Willis,Rebecca Hall,Catherine Zeta-JonesandJoshua Jackson.Based onBeth Raymer's 2010 memoir of the same name, the film follows a young, free-spirited woman as she journeys through the legal and illegal world of sports gambling.

Lay the Favorite
UK theatrical release poster
Directed by	Stephen Frears
Screenplay by	D.V. DeVincentis
Based on	Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling byBeth Raymer
Produced by	Randall Emmett George Furla Paul Trijbits
Starring	Bruce Willis Rebecca Hall Catherine Zeta-Jones Joshua Jackson
Cinematography	Michael McDonough
Edited by	Mick Audsley
Music by	James Seymour Brett
Production companies	Wild Bunch Emmett/Furla Films Likely Story Random House Films Ruby Films Jackson Investment Group Lipsync Productions
Distributed by	Radius-TWC
Release dates	January 21, 2012(2012-01-21)(Sundance Film Festival) December 7, 2012(2012-12-07)(United States)
Running time	94 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14.7 million
Box office	$1.5 million

It premiered at the2012 Sundance Film Festivalon January 21 and was released on December 7 byThe Weinstein Companythrough its RADiUS-TWC distribution arm.Lay the Favoritegarnered negative reviews from critics, praising the performances of Willis and Hall but felt there was unexplored development in the characters and the gambling world. The film was abox-office bomb,grossing $1.5 million against a production budget of $14.7 million.

Plot

Bethis becoming bored with her life inFlorida,doing stripteases and lap dances for private customers. Her dad, Jerry, tells her to follow her dream of moving toLas Vegas,where she seeks honest work as acocktail waitress.

A young woman named Holly, who lives at the same Vegas motel, arranges for Beth to meet Dink Heimowitz, a professional gambler who follows the fast-changing odds on sporting events and employs assistants at Dink, Inc., to lay big-money bets for him. Beth is intrigued and it turns out she has a good mind for numbers, easily grasping Dink's system and becoming his protégée and he views her as his lucky charm. When Beth begins expressing a more personal interest in her much-older mentor, Dink's sharp-tongued wife, Tulip, lets it be known in no uncertain terms that she wants Beth out of her husband's life. As a result, from pressure from his wife, Dink lets Beth go.

A young journalist from New York, Jeremy, meets Beth in the casino and they immediately hit it off and she makes plans to move back to New York with him, having nothing left in Las Vegas to keep her there. She is hooked on the excitement and income that gambling provides and backs out suddenly whenever Dink, facing a heavy losing streak without his lucky charm, asks her to come back to work for him.

Whenever Dink's losing streak continues even with Beth's return, he has a meltdown and fires everyone in his office. Having enough, Beth goes toNew Yorkto be with Jeremy but accepts a similar job for a rival bookie called Rosie. Gambling is illegal inNew Yorkand Dink worries about Beth. Rosie then sets up a legal operation based inCuraçaoand Beth goes down to help run the betting. Rosie and his men are more interested in drugs and hookers and Beth wants out. A New York gambler, Dave Greenberg, is in debt for sixty-thousand dollars and may be working forthe Feds.

Dink and his wife Tulip come to New York to help out Beth and Jeremy. They strong arm Greenberg and he gives them a hot tip on a New Jersey basketball team. The team wins in the last second by one point and everyone clears their gambling debts. The movie is a true story based on Beth Raymer's memoir who in real life goes to college and becomes a writer.

Cast

• Bruce Willisas Dink Heimowitz
• Rebecca HallasBeth Raymer
• Catherine Zeta-Jonesas Tulip Heimowitz
• Joshua Jacksonas Jeremy
• Vince Vaughnas Rosie
• Laura Preponas Holly
• John Carroll Lynchas Dave Greenberg
• Corbin Bernsenas Jerry Raymer
• Frank Grilloas Franky

Production

Random House Filmstook the gambling memoir to Likely Story andEmmett/Furla Filmsto adapt the film. Filming began in April 2011 inLas Vegas,Nevada.Shooting also took place in New Orleans, and New York City.The Weinstein Companypurchased distribution rights at Sundance Film Festival for a fall 2012 release.Wild Bunch was the film's international sales company.

Reception

Lay the Favoritereceived negative reviews from critics. On thereview aggregatorwebsiteRotten Tomatoes,18% of 50 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "A clumsy misstep for director Stephen Frears,Lay the Favoriteputs all its chips on endearing quirk only to go bust. "Metacritic,which uses aweighted average,assigned the film a score of 38 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.

The A.V. Club'sNathan Rabingave the film an overall "B−" grade, praising Willis for giving "a nicely shaded character actor turn" and Hall for emitting "irrepressible energy" in her role, writing that: "It's a decidedly soft-boiled tale populated by some of the nicest degenerate gamblers you'd ever want to meet."Jeremy Kay ofThe Guardianpraised Hall for delivering "a fabulously ditzy turn that should gain her wider recognition in the US as a leading lady." He added that: "While this is a lesser work in the Frears canon, it's still a likable caper."

James Berardinelliwrote that despite Willis giving a "fine performance" as Dink Heimowitz, he felt the film was a "sitcom blown up to big-screen proportions" that carries "a series of missed opportunities" when delving into the characters' relationships and the gambling world, concluding that: "It won't take nearly as long to forgetLay the Favorite.It's the epitome of mediocrity - not a phrase often associated with a director having Frears' track record. "Scott Tobias ofNPRcomparedLay the Favoriteto theDemi MoorefilmStriptease,saying its "a listless comedy built around a vivacious protagonist" that carries a "neither-here-nor-there quality" based on non-commitment of adapting the material and "lack of directorial interest" from Frears.Steve Macfarlane ofSlant Magazinewrote that: "Lay the Favoriteis obviously worse than it should be, but it's also a thinner and more pallid experience than it would have been if it were a total catastrophe—if it had any ambition. As it stands, it's content to aim squarely for the much-celebrated Indiewood middle, and falls short.

Lawsuit

While the film was received poorly at the box office, it was picked up for streaming byNetflixandAmazon Video.As a result of this, mapmaker Victor Baker sued Warner Bros. as the film, which is set in the country ofCuraçao,used one of Baker's antique-style watercolor maps of the country as part of the set decorations. His lawsuit demanded either statutory damages or fair market value of the licensing fee for use of the map.

See also

• List of films set in Las Vegas

External links

• Lay the FavoriteatIMDb
• Lay the FavoriteatRotten Tomatoes
• Lay the FavoriteatBox Office Mojo