Based on the autobiography of Beth Raymer, Lay the Favorite is the story of the highly colorful background of the writer:
Beth Raymer (Rebecca Hall) gets tired of her weird clients as a stripper, and decides to live the glamorous life a Las Vegas cocktail waitress. No, seriously-she does think that it is the adventure of a lifetime. But before she can land a job as a waitress, she lands a job as a sports bettor next to the interesting Dink (Bruce Willis), who immediately takes a liking to this weirdly naive ex-stripper/porn site entrepreneur/star. Of course no wife (Catherine Zeta Jones) will be pleased to see Beth liking her husband too much, so things get a tad complicated for Beth. And to add more to the complications, she meets the cute writer Jeremy (Joshua Jackson), who happens to be the first normal guy she gets involved with.
*
Frankly, I prefer the trailer to the movie. I had no idea that it was a memoir, and I’d thought that I would just see a fun, if not a little quirky, comedy about 4 interesting people. Instead I got a movie that seemed off in many directions, and despite the good cast, I just couldn’t get into it. And when you can’t get into a movie your mind wanders:
11 Things Lay The Favorite Might Make You Think
1) I was thinking why anyone would want to tell this story, then I realized it was a memoir. So truth is stranger than fiction.
2) Apparently people can have sex first and have a relationship later.
3) Shy people can run porn sites and strip.
4) Diablo Cody (Juno) is not the only ex-stripper that became a successful writer.
5) Catherine Zeta Jones is still beautiful.
6) Joshua Jackson could star in Benjamin Button the Sequel- that guy does not look 34! Apply little eye cream, and he could still star as a high school senior.
7) Beth Raymer is one protagonist that is borderline impossible to identify with.
8) Bruce Wills in comedy is fun in small doses, but I’d rather have him go around kicking ass and saving the day. Can A Good Day to Die Hard come to the theaters already?
9) As much as I like Vince Vaughn, even I’m retiring from watching him play a fast-talking gambler/player/swinger/bookie. Remember the times he did movies like Cell or Return to Paradise?
10) I’d rather have Stephen Frears direct period pieces. Remember that stunning movie Dangerous Liasions?
11) I want to read Beth Raymer rather than watch a movie based on her. She has been published in pretty prestigious magazines after getting a writing MFA.
Also on the Cast
Joshua Jacskson:
Fringe starring Joshua Jackson, Anna Torv & John Noble
The Shadow Dancer- romantic drama starring Joshua Jackson, Harvey Keitel & Claire Forlani
BRUCE WILLIS:
Surrogates starring Bruce Willis & Rosamund Pike
Top 5 Movie Endings feat. The Sixth Sense
Actor Musicians and Musician Actors feat. Willis and Travolta
What Ricky Gervais said on 2011 Golden Globes about Bruce
10 Celebrity Break-ups You Didn’t See Coming
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES
Death Defying Acts starring Guy Pearce & Catherine Zeta-Jones
REBECCA HALL
The Awakening starring Rebecca Hall & Dominic West: Good Enough
