Lay the Favorite

Get Showtimes + Tickets

  • Opened December 7, 2012 (Limited)
  • 1 hr 34 min
  • R | Language throughout, some sexual content, brief drug use and nudity
  • Parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+. More on child suitability

  • Beth Raymer (Hall) leaves behind her life as a stripper in Florida and heads to Las Vegas to realize her dream: being a cocktail waitress in a glitzy casino. But, when her career goals don’t pan out, she falls in with Dink (Willis), a kind and idiosyncratic sports gambler. Beth wins Dink’s admiration when she shows herself to be something of a gambling prodigy, but she also wins the ire of Dink’s wife, Tulip (Zeta-Jones), when her relationship with her boss seems to extend beyond the professional. Based on a true story, LAY THE FAVORITE is a heartfelt comedy of finding friendship in the least likely places. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Joshua Jackson, Laura Prepon, Vince Vaughn
  • Director: Stephen Frears
  • Genres: Comedy Drama, Psychological Drama

What's the Buzz?

So-so
Fans say So-So
283 fans
Read fan reviews
No
Critics say No
38 out of 100
Read critic reviews

Fan Reviews

Must Go!
A fun movie

by reedeemjs

It was a lot of fun. Bruce Willis outstanding as always. Catherine Zeta Jones outstanding as always. Loved them in it....

So-so
iPad

by

iPad...

Read more fan reviews

Critic Reviews

75
San Francisco Chronicle
| Mick LaSalle

A small and not particularly ambitious movie, but it's pleasing and exceptionally well made. It was directed by Stephen Frears, and while it's not up there with his best - "Dangerous Liaisons," "The Queen," "High Fidelity," "Cheri" - Lay the Favorite lavishes the same attention on the personal, on relationships, and, like most Frears films, it puts a woman at the center of the story. Read full review

63
New York Post
| Kyle Smith

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. Read full review

63
ReelViews
| James Berardinelli

On autopilot from beginning to end, Lay the Favorite feels like sitcom blown up to big-screen proportions. The laughs aren't raucous or numerous, the character development is sketchy at best, and the insider's perspective on bookies and gambling is superficial. Read full review

60
Total Film
|

A classy cast and Frears' light touch can't help this innocent abroad dramedy into the winner's enclosure. More jeopardy, less laboured larking, and it could've romped home. Read full review

Read more critic reviews

Offers

Photos

Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis in "Lay the Favorite."