If you are not one of those who make bets, the title of this film can be a bit misleading at first glance. However, take a closer look and you’ll see that there’s more to this movie than the title alone suggests. Based on the memoir of 36-year-old American journalist Beth Raymer, “Lay the Favorite” is a light-hearted comedy about her brief foray into the sex industry and her experiences in the fast-paced world of sports betting. Although the original book received rave reviews in 2010, the movie received rave reviews shortly after its release, just two years later. Those who anticipated the same intensity characteristic of director Stephen Frears’ previous works were disappointed when the final product did not live up to their expectations. While “Lay the Favorite” is nothing like her Academy Award-winning drama “The Queen,” it never promises to be anything other than what it is: the true story of a 24-year-old woman who makes mistakes. she learns valuable lessons and has a little fun along the way.
Stepping away from her usual complex roles in movies like “The Prestige” and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” Rebecca Hall proves quite believable as young Beth. Her character, while naive and impulsive of hers, is quite likable, and you quickly find yourself rooting for her success. Her story follows her journey from private dancer in sunny Florida to cocktail waitress in Las Vegas, where she meets professional gambler Dink (Bruce Willis), who eventually takes her in a completely different direction.
Willis’ character is somewhat reminiscent of his role on “The Whole Nine Yards” as hit man Jimmy “The Tulip” Tudeski, whose irony is almost too good to be true. Fast forward a bit and the fluent-speaking bookie, who can instantly see past Beth’s goofy exterior, convinces her to quit her job as a waitress and come work for him. Immediately, she demonstrates a knack for numbers and excels at work. Everything is going well until Dink’s wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) becomes jealous of their growing relationship, which seems to extend beyond the strictly professional. Zeta-Jones does an outstanding job as the spoiled and snobbish Tulip, who will do everything in her power to keep her husband’s ambitious young co-worker from getting close to her man, even getting her fired despite the great blow that the business suffers without it. .
When Beth realizes things aren’t going as well as she’d hoped, she decides it’s time to start over. Her new boyfriend Jeremy (Joshua Jackson) convinces her to move with him to New York in search of a better life and more opportunities. Jackson’s character, her first movie role since 2008, is charming, but she has a much smaller role than fans expected. Still, he’s charming and personable on screen.
Not long after arriving in New York, Beth returns to the world of gambling. This time she gets a job for Rosie (Vince Vaughn), a bad boy type with her hands in all sorts of overseas and illegal gambling activities. Although Vaughn’s character is somewhat hard to believe that he isn’t a criminal version of himself, he teaches Beth an important lesson about herself and what she wants from life. This is, of course, only after he manages to get her into a lot of trouble.
Overall, “Lay the Favorite” is a charming story where we see the main character get into and find his way out of trouble more times than can be counted on the fingers of one hand. One might find some of the problems he faces implausible or even impossible had they not been based on actual experiences. When asked about the film’s accuracy, Raymer claimed last year that while it’s surprisingly real, a lot of detail obviously gets lost when trying to collapse four years of one’s life into a ninety-minute script. He also stated that despite the different ending and the fictional addition of Holly (Laura Prepon), he thought the writer (DV DeVincentis) did an excellent job. Whether you’ve read the book or not, “Lay the Favorite” is a light-hearted, light-hearted comedy that’s definitely worth a watch.
