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Lay the Favorite

Play trailer Poster for Lay the Favorite R Released Dec 7, 2012 1h 34m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
18% Tomatometer 50 Reviews 19% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A former stripper's (Rebecca Hall) talent with numbers lands her a job with a professional gambler (Bruce Willis) who runs a sports book in Las Vegas.
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Lay the Favorite

Lay the Favorite

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Critics Consensus

A clumsy misstep for director Stephen Frears, Lay the Favorite puts all its chips on endearing quirk only to go bust.

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Critics Reviews

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Kyle Smith New York Post Frears has a lot of fun with the bad tempers and high spirits of this crew of adrenaline junkies, and though the story falls a little flat, the script is sprinkled with dry wit. Rated: 2.5/4 Dec 7, 2012 Full Review Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle "Lay the Favorite" is a small and not particularly ambitious movie, but it's pleasing and exceptionally well made. Rated: 3/4 Dec 7, 2012 Full Review Betsy Sharkey Los Angeles Times What has happened to director Stephen Frears? Rated: 1/5 Dec 6, 2012 Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Broad, flat, lugubrious, the worst example of filmmaking that exists. Rated: 0.5/5 Jul 8, 2019 Full Review Joseph Walsh CineVue Despite the combination of bankable actors, a talented screenwriter and a fine director, Lay the Favourite is woefully disappointing. Rated: 2/5 Aug 23, 2018 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews The degree to which Lay the Favorite fizzles out is ultimately nothing short of devastating... Rated: 2/4 Mar 30, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alex S Great movie! The most realistic gambling movie I’ve ever seen. Makes sense, since it’s a true story written by the main character. Love this movie Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/02/25 Full Review Steve D Not a whole lot to like with this story. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 10/18/23 Full Review jelisije j A really good movie about a young girl who moves to las vegas and learns the value of money, love, friendship, and gambling. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Nudny. Słabe aktorstwo. Fabuła z czapy, uprawianie hazardu jako sposób na sensowny biznes, głupiutka bohaterka Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review michael t I watched a little over half of this movie about gambling. The part I watched was engaging enough, and then Bruce Willis's character started losing and it started unraveling. Like any addiction gone wrong, his character became erratic and it wasn't fun to watch. Don't know how it ended, but I expect it wasn't good. Catherine Zeta-Jones was barely recognizable; maybe had some weird plastic surgery. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review barry m Too "inside" for most moviegoers to follow, this gambling mishmash isn't helped by an over-the-top performance by Rebecca Hall. I'm still not sure if this is a comedy (not funny) or a character study (unfocused). Either way, you can probably survive life without it. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
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Cast & Crew

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Stephen Frears

Director

Bruce Willis

Dink Heimowitz

Rebecca Hall

Beth Raymer

Catherine Zeta-Jones

Tulip Heimowitz

Vince Vaughn

Rosie

Joshua Jackson

Jeremy

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Lay the Favorite

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Movie Info

Synopsis A former stripper's (Rebecca Hall) talent with numbers lands her a job with a professional gambler (Bruce Willis) who runs a sports book in Las Vegas.
Director
Stephen Frears
Producer
Anthony Bregman, D.V. DeVincentis, Randall Emmett, George Furla, Paul Trijbits
Screenwriter
D.V. DeVincentis
Distributor
Radius TWC
Production Co
Lipsync Productions, Random House Films, Ruby Films, Wild Bunch, Emmett/Furla Films, Likely Story
Rating
R (Language Throughout|Brief Drug Use|Nudity|Some Sexual Content)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 7, 2012, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$21.0K
Runtime
1h 34m
Sound Mix
Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital
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