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Lay the Favorite

Play trailer Poster for Lay the Favorite R,  2012,  1h 34m,  Comedy/ Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 18% 50 Reviews Tomatometer 19% 2,500+ Ratings 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.
Lay the Favorite

What to Know

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 Dec 7, 2012
2.5/4
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. Go to Full Review
Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle Dec 7, 2012
3/4
"Lay the Favorite" is a small and not particularly ambitious movie, but it's pleasing and exceptionally well made. Go to Full Review
Betsy Sharkey Los Angeles Times Dec 6, 2012
1/5
What has happened to director Stephen Frears? Go to Full Review
Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com Jul 8, 2019
0.5/5
Broad, flat, lugubrious, the worst example of filmmaking that exists. Go to Full Review
Joseph Walsh CineVue Aug 23, 2018
2/5
Despite the combination of bankable actors, a talented screenwriter and a fine director, Lay the Favourite is woefully disappointing. Go to Full Review
David Nusair Reel Film Reviews Mar 30, 2018
2/4
The degree to which Lay the Favorite fizzles out is ultimately nothing short of devastating... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Jul 7, 2018 This is a fun movie with some all-stars. The unknown actress who plays the lead is really good at playing a dim-witted inexperienced person at life. Not dissapointed. See more
Anakin S Jan 6, 2018 Sorry but I hated this movie. It was so loud to begin with, even 90 minutes was too long for this nonsense. The only thing that was good about this movie was the cast and the acting. See more
Hagrid S Nov 5, 2017 Unfortunately, there are people who invested their money in this movie based on the cast. This movie came off as lazy and leaned on formerly established stereotypes. A beacon of mediocrity - leaning on many already covered topics/relationships/characters. A superstitious, bookie meets an awkward/shy/go-getting Floridian girl who happens to be good at numbers and he decides that she is his rabbit's foot. She learns the ropes of the bookie business, while he explains to her the pitfalls of Vegas and bookmaking, while dealing with his strong willed, skeptical, business-oriented Vegas wife. Character developed has been established from my comments above, as they fulfill all of the normal stereotypes. If Pretty Woman was shot in Vegas, was a thoughtless lazy script and didn't include Richard Gere or Julia Roberts, this would be the result. See more
Draco G Oct 24, 2017 A very unorganized and rather shallow drama comedy about sports gambling; that finds a way to be reasonable entertainment. See more
Oct 21, 2017 I haven't seen this big of a piece of crap since...well...quite frankly I got off of the toilet this morning and looked down.
Poe L Jul 31, 2017 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. See more
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Lay the Favorite

My Rating

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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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