I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I think the first time I saw this film I was so shocked by Catherine Zeta-Jones (I was as smitten by my first glimpse of the most beautiful woman in the world, in Zorro, as Michael Douglas, but he had the edge) that I failed to appreciate its qualities. Last night I watched it again and found it a delightful comedy, with some terrific acting, notably from former Roedean head girl and stage actress Rebecca Hall as a ditsy American blonde looking for a better life and Catherine as a sharp manipulator defending her territory. Beth is never as dumb as she seems (she never told her daddy how she was earning the money to get her through college), as it's mainly charming naivete that takes her bouncing from situation to situation, always reacting and never in control. The audience think they know where this is going when she decides to give up her small town life and head for the glitter of the Vegas strip. But it turns out she is actually rather good with letters and numbers, as well as possessing a rare and very precious quality - she can be trusted. Bruce Willis is volatile, but kindly to those he thinks deserve it (and even some who don't) and he thinks beth deserves it. His jealous wife Catherine is the only one who doesn't trust her and just as everything seems to be going well she delivers her ultimatum to her devoted hubby. But Beth bounces back, meeting a genuinely nice honest guy who falls in love with her and wants to take her back to NY with him. Of course life isn't that neat and tidy, but she ends up there eventually and falls in with Vince Vaughn, a high roller who talks big but doesn't back it up with the required professionalism. But Beth's qualities overcome that defect until a tricksy client threatens to denounce them, including her boyfriend, who only helped out of love for her, to the Feds. At that point, Beth has to call in the goodwill credits she has accumulated, and even Catherine rallies round to help her. With that support, Beth suddenly discovers her own inner strength and force of character and takes control of the situation, and we know she's going to be okay from now on. It's a true story that gives a warm glow, as well as providing a lot of laughs along the way. The only reason I don't rate this film higher is because there is a lot of information on betting that flies completely over my head (since I learned as a teen that it's a mugs game), so although the audience knows enough to know they've got a lot of money riding on multiple events across multiple fields (the Bruce Willis character is smart enough to keep out of the stock market, because he knows it's rigged!), it's hard to get involved in the clips of those events, only their reactions to them. Nevertheless, it's a film I recommend for a good laugh, as long as you leave all preconcieved notions of what you expect from Rebecca, Catherine and Bruce at the door.

Lay the Favorite stars Rebecca Hall as an ex-stripper and Bruce Willis as an ageing Las Vegas bookie. But nothing comes good in the script. It is as flat and the writing is noticeable. We can now see why the film was not shown wide in America. The affection between Beth and Dink feels a lot more genuine, with Willis delivering a finely tuned performance. Hall bounces off him with comically goggle-eyed expressions but she comes across more clumsy than needed. This film is listed as a comedy and drama but it really is neither funny, nor it is as dramatic as one should be for a sports betting film. It is also utterly predictable, specifically its ending.

Based on Beth Raymer's "Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling," this is a fun and entertaining movie.A sleeper at the box office for sure, but for those seeking 90 minutes to unwind and forget about reality for a while, this film takes its viewers on a fun, if not entirely realistic, ride through the lives of professional gamblers.Other reviewers have criticized this movie for being simple, but that's what gives the movie its charm. (The book is probably more detailed and was well reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and the New York Times Book Review).Don't compare this movie to Rounders (Matt Damon & Edward Norton) or 21 (Kevin Spacey). It's not a drama with complicated plot lines, but a lighthearted, romantic comedy with a fun cast that's easy to watch.

Bruce Willis is everywhere it seems, from reprising his iconic role in John McClane for the fifth time, to being called on as the Original Joe in the G.I. Joe franchise. Soon he will be seen in yet another follow up film to Red, inspired by the graphic novel, and that pretty much sums up a busy release schedule in 2013. But here comes Lay the Favourite where he plays a character that's uniquely different from all of the rest so far - he doesn't wield a gun, and gone are the wisecracks. Instead, he's a serious gambler, so serious that he's made a business out of his passion, and doing so legally in the state of Nevada, USA.But this is not the story about Bruce Willis' Dink, but rather, one that's purportedly based on the memoirs of an exotic dancer who made good while working under the tutelage of Dink, but not before some shenanigans that expectedly occur along the way, pulling in some serious lessons in life about nursing an addiction, whether the thrill of the win, or for the affections of someone. It's about Beth (Rebecca Hall), a freelance exotic dancer who decides that it's times up for her current career, and decided to embark on a new one as a casino cocktail waitress in Las Vegas.Stroke of luck would have her meet Dink, who runs his own company, getting revenues from making bets against the odds (hence the title) for every conceivable sport and for every conceivable play. If you, like me, think that this is one film that will reveal to you the secrets to sports betting and making a career out of it, well, think again, as these scenes really just gloss over the bare basics, lest it be known as an elementary 101 instructional manual for professional gaming. But it is through this premise that life lessons get imparted, from knowing when to quit, not be greedy, to knowing how to operate within set limits.And it's about discovering one's talents too. For Beth, her uncanny skill with numbers, and being the only female operative in Dink Inc puts her in good steed amongst Dink's peers in the industry, and for a while she personified Dink's good luck charm, until Dink's wife Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones) comes frowning especially when being threatened by a nubile upstart whom she can feel starting to bear some pangs of infatuation for her husband, who had lifted her self esteem. This leads to another automatic rote expectation of how romance will figure into the plot, with Jeremy (Joshua Jackson) being the goody two shoes boyfriend that Beth hooks up with.Lay the Favourites tend to go all over the place narratively, with director Stephen Frears unable to keep a solid grasp on the story to keep it focused. It developed much like Beth's scatterbrain, hitting multiple plot points at the same time, and didn't fully develop their potential. There were solid moments when the story angled into a lessons learnt in how we sometimes bite the hand that feeds us. Its romance didn't go beyond the perfunctory, while the comedy seemed to be reined in for the most parts instead of letting it rip. Having Vince Vaughn play the chief antagonist guaranteed a riot of a time, until you realize that he's somewhat restrained in delivery of some of the best lines in the film that belonged to his character.While this may not be Stephen Frears' best work, it still contained little takeaways through its themes, of heeding advice from experienced hands, and not be seduced by things that are too good to be true, because it's a high chance that they are. Bruce Willis may be playing against type here, but he does seem a tad uncomfortable in the role. Rebecca Hall however was at her element here as the trashy girl discovering her talents and herself, making good of her potential, but the rest of the supporting cast, such as Zeta-Jones who was really pedestrian, failed to keep up with her energy. Lay the Favourite is a valiant attempt that ultimately proved that the odds were stacked against its favour from the start.