Even Bruce Willis couldn't save this masterpiece. The first half was pretty bad, but then something happened: it got worse. It was like a soft core 'Showgirls' but without the character development, tension, drama and humor. I was going to give it a 1, but I kept thinking about Laura Prepon sunning herself and I gave it a 2. Call me generous.

Beth passes from erotic dancer to become the help of an important bet dealer in Las Vegas, but the small advances that she makes to her boss will risk their collaboration because of Dink's jealous wife.What's with the small rating? OK, the truth is that I liked the first 40 minutes or so, but after that the movie becomes boring and uneventful. Plus we are not accustomed to see Bruce Willis in that kind of "soft" character, I mean without a gun in his hand it seems like he is not the person we are all used too. The story is not bad but maybe unrealistically and not too detailed. The actors give their best performances but could not save the poor script. Also the ending wasn't that good. With more effort the whole film could have been more watchable.

The appeal of this film comes down to whether or not you like Rebecca Hall because she is in just about every scene.I don't find her difficult to watch at all. Apart from a likable performance, she reveals sturdy, tanned thighs in a succession of short shorts. She portrays Beth Raymer, the author of the book on which the film is based, as an infectiously good-natured woman looking for fulfilment in her life, but who is also drawn to exciting and edgy pursuits.She becomes involved with Bruce Willis' character, Dink Heimowitz, a bookmaker, who gambles on just about any kind of sport for high stakes. He gives her a job and she shows aptitude for the work. But Dink is impulsive, moody and married – to Tulip Heimowitz played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.Dink fires Beth to save his marriage. With her newfound gambling skills, Beth goes to work for a far more reckless gambler, Rosie, played by Vince Vaughn. She also meets Jeremy, a comparatively normal guy played by Joshua Jackson. However, Dink remains her mentor and eventually helps her to win a critical wager that ends the film.Movies can involve you in subjects that you know little about whether it's coal mining, bomb disposal, the stock market, deep-sea fishing, football or whatever. Usually, enough knowledge is imparted for the audience to appreciate the subject's relevance to the characters.Gambling and the world of bookmaking are the subjects of "Lay the Favourite", but little is explained.Admittedly, my knowledge of gambling is limited. I even have trouble filling out the form for a Melbourne Cup ticket during my annual trip to the TAB. I'm sure I'm not alone in this, and I must admit I lost track of what was happening in the story even at the end when the whole thing hung on Beth's wager on the basketball game.This is where I think the script could have done a better job in bringing the audience up to speed. After all, Dink needed to explain things to Beth when she started out and it was the perfect opportunity to inform the audience without narration or tedious exposition, but the explanations are rushed at best. Interestingly, director Stephen Frears' brilliant "The Grifters" explained itself perfectly while dealing with a not totally dissimilar subject.With the exception of Beth and Jeremy, the characters are extreme and quirky. They almost seem to be modern-day versions of the Damon Runyon characters out of "Guys and Dolls". Dink, Tulip and Rosie, amongst others, are all fairly idiosyncratic characters, but the quirkiness knob might be turned a little too high.I think the critics were too harsh with this movie. Described as a comedy, the film is more whimsical than outright funny. I can see it's weak points, but it held my attention until the end – I wanted to know what happened even if it was confusing.

Lay the Favorite ends on a happy note, but as statistics prove over and over again there are more broke and desolate people as a result of addictive gambling than there are happy winners. I enjoyed the solid acting in Lay the Favorite, and there was a Disney like theme involved, but some of the movie content is for an adult only audience. The movie revolves around a young ambitious girl named Beth (played by Rebecca Hall), who is trying to find a job that will fulfill her as a person and that excites her. Making house calls with her boom box and stripping for strange men just does not fill that void for Rebecca so she moves out to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress. Through a few chance meetings she ends up working for a private bookmaker who bets only on himself and whose name is Dink Heimowitz (played by Bruce Willis). Dink is assisted by two of his cronies and a few female runners who lay his bets off for him with the Vegas bookmakers. Dink decides to hire Beth as one of his bet runners because she is young, bright, good with numbers, and initially brings Dink some good luck. Dink has a beautiful wife (played by Catherine Zeta-Jones) who does not appreciate the young bet runners that Dink prefers to hire and she lets Dink and the girls know to stay clear of her man. One of the other big gamblers who aspires to run his own bookmaking ring is a guy named Rosie (played by Vince Vaughn). Dink will deal with Rosie but he doesn't trust him because he believes all gamblers are only looking out for themselves.I did enjoy the movie, but I felt it provides an unrealistic view of the life of the heavy bettor. Lay the Favorite portrays Dink and Rosie as two bookies who always seem to come out on top, and have no worries in the world. Although this is a comedy so it is not to be taken seriously I have a soft spot for gamblers as I have seen too many fall in to despair and a life long rut of quiet losses and sudden hibernation until they come in to a bit of money again so they can get back on the cycle of gambling for another run. Beth eventually leaves Dink's employment and she also leaves her down to earth boyfriend Jeremy from New York (played by Joshua Jackson) and goes to work for Rosie on a sunny island. Beth quickly learns that Rosie is not a very nice man and that Rosie is who Dink said he was. Beth realizes that she needs to get back to New York and help her boyfriend Jeremy out of any potential criminal charges related to the gambling book that she asked Jeremy to oversee while she worked with Rosie on the islands.The movie ends with a lot of lives having to rely on the outcome of a basketball game. This is by no means a Disney movie but it may as well have been since the movie's ending had everyone involved in a love fest. Heavy gambling as outlined in Lay the Favorite should not be portrayed with characters as nice and clean as in this movie feature, because this is not reality. Gambling has negatively affected too many people's lives and their extended families lives as well. There is a good Disney message with the underdogs attaining victory in this movie but keep it real folks, gambling is an addiction and an illness which calls out for a cure, not a romantic comedy.