Lay The Favourite
Stephen Frears
The story: The phrase “lay the favourite” comes from the arena of sports gambling. It is a world that private dancer Beth (Rebecca Hall) discovers when she moves to Vegas for a fresh start. She works for Dink (Bruce Willis), clashes with his wife Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and ends up making a pivotal bet on a basketball game. Based on Beth Raymer’s 2010 memoir of the same name.

The best thing about this film is Rebecca Hall.
Somehow, she manages to give stripper- turned-gambler Beth an aura of innocence. The wide-eyed naivete is all the more impressive considering that the English actress is now 30.
Even when she is putting the moves on Dink, randomly hooking up with a stranger (Joshua Jackson) or just making bad decisions in general, there is an essential sweetness about her that is endearing.
From Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) to The Town (2010) to the stage production of The Winter’s Tale, the chameleonic actress has slipped into a wide variety of roles and imbued them all with a ring of authenticity.
If only the movie were as good as she is. There is a gentle sense of humour to the proceedings, but this is a film that could have done with a more brazen tone.
Oddly enough, there are brazen roles here, including Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, 2005) as showy bookie Rosie and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, 2002) as the tanned and formidable Tulip who warns Beth: “Do not f*** my husband.”
They are not meaty enough, though, to make for interesting character studies.
At the same time, there is not much momentum propelling the story forward.
The pivotal bet placed on the outcome of a basketball game is supposed to introduce some tension, but it feels a little abrupt and not particularly exciting.
Director Stephen Frears has done better work before – from Dirty Pretty Things (2002) to High Fidelity (2000). This is not among them.
(ST)