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Lay The Favorite Review: LTF starring Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hole, Joshua Jackson & Catherine Zeta Jones

Posted on November 17, 2012 Written by ripitup

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Lay The Favorite starring Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson & Catherine Zeta Jones
Image via teaser-trailer.com.

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:

Red starring Bruce Willis, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Karl Urban, Morgan Freeman & Helen Mirren

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

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona starring Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Bruce Willis, buy lay the favorite dvd, catherine zeta jones, Joshua Jackson, lay the favorite cast, lay the favorite dvd, lay the favorite movie, lay the favorite movie review, Lay The Favorite Review, Rebecca Hall, Stephen Frears

Chéri starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend

Posted on February 5, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Chéri with Michelle Pfeiffer. She is good. The movie? Not so much.

I didn’t like this movie. Bye.

Kidding. Well, only about the second part. I really didn’t like this movie.

I like period pieces and romantic/sexy stories. I love Michelle Pfeiffer. Director Stephen Fears made Dangerous Liaisons in 1988, starring John Malkovich Glenn Close and Michelle, a movie I adored. So I was expecting something spectacular from Stephen again. Well, the magic is just isn’t here. Of course that cast included the-ever-amazing John Malkovich. Here, we have Rupert Friend. I had previously seen him in Pride and Prejudice in a small role and he had done alright. Now, even “alright” would be overstatement.

The story:
Michelle plays Lea- a glorified prostitute who is near her retirement age. I am saying glorified, because we are talking about times where some prostitutes had power, money and more style and grace than any other woman in society. She is the godmother of Chéri and this young man has started to concern his mother Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates), an ex-prostitute herself. Chéri’s life consists of sex and booze and she’d rather have him mature under the wings of her old friend Lea. But this maturing period lasts longer than they all expected. After 6 years, they are still together. But according to Madame, it is time for his son to get married. She finds the girl and makes all the arrangements. Chéri still would like to have an affair, but Lea doesn’t want to be him after he is married. So they break up, which sends both lovers to different types of depression. They try to get on with their lives, but 6 years of passion and love are not easily forgotten…

chéri with rupert friend and michelle pfeiffer
Chéri with Rupert Friend and Michelle Pfeiffer

Not a story we aren’t used to but hey, it will do. The costumes are fine and Michelle Pfeiffer is still very pretty. But the movie doesn’t work. I easily got tired of Kathy Bates’ over the top character. I was annoyed by almost everything about Rupert Friend’s Chéri. I failed to see what might have been so appealing about him. He has a pretty face I guess, in a weird way but I half-expected him to announce he was actually gay throughout the movie. He walks, talks and acts funny. He has this weird fascination of pearls and if a guy isn’t gay, his wanting to borrow pink pearls can’t be endearing. I failed to recognize the slightest level of testosterone from him. His personality? There was nothing good or charming. So how am I supposed to believe a “love” story when the guy has nothing to offer? Youth can not be the answer, she has seen many of young men before. I guess we can explain that as shit happens. But surely, a girl finding Chéri as annoying, spoilt and gay is not a good sign?

And the ending is disappointing too. I am not saying it is happy or sad. I didn’t really care either way but it was just a pointless ending to a pointless story.

I watched it because as I said: 1) Michelle Pfeiffer

2) Stephen Frears

Don’t watch it unless you love period pieces no matter what the story and find Rupert Friend cute.

Also with Michelle Pfeiffer:

Wolf

Tequila Sunrise


With Kathy Bates

My Sister’s Keeper

P.S. I love you – plays Gerard Butler’s mother-in-law

White Palace – plays James Spader’s boss

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Chéri, drama, Kathy Bates, Michelle Pfeiffer, movies, period movie, romance, Rupert Friend, Stephen Frears

In the mood for a fun romcom novel?

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