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A
light-hearted caper with a quality cast, Lay The Favourite is based on the true
life story by Beth Raymer, and has been brought to the screen by director
Stephen Frears. It’s not up to the standard of Frears’ best work,
including the likes of The Grifters and High Fidelity, but he’s still
having fun with a mixed bag of a movie.
The basic premise sees Rebecca
Hall as a lap dancer, who relocates to Las Vegas. There, she lands a job
working for a professional gambler, played by Bruce Willis. Catherine Zeta
Jones and Joshua Jackson aren’t far behind, and Lay The Favourite then
gets down to the job of finding something compelling for everyone to do. Sadly,
that’s where it fumbles things a little, as the characters and setting are
far more interesting than the narrative itself. It makes it a slightly erratic,
still entertaining movie, with Hall and Willis in particular on good form. You
get a fair few giggles for your money, too..
Everything in the film is
in the book but not vice versa. The book is not particularly believable in
Beth's behaviour, nor is she in the film. No drugs, no sex. Really? I don't
care if it is true, its not believable. |
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So how about
gambling here. The chance to enhance this story with the war against bookmakers
and America's archaic betting laws is completely missed. Apparently Dink made
his lines up on the fly without analysis and gave 10s of thousands of dollars
to known problem-gambling runners to place bets. Just such nonsense.
What is missing is that all-important connective tissue that ties
everything together. Crises come barreling down, you can see them a mile away
and the characters are thinly drawn. At least a book about gambling sort of got
made into a film. What has happened to director Stephen Frears?
The book is better than the
film. |
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| Director |
Stephen
Frears |
Rebecca Hall |
Beth
Raymer |
| Producer |
Anthony
Bregman |
Bruce
Willis |
Dink
Heimowitz |
| Writing |
Beth
Raymer |
Catherine Zeta-Jones |
Tulip |
| Cinematography |
Michael
McDonough |
Joshua Jackson |
Jeremy |
| Cert./Runtime |
15 /
94 |
Vince
Vaughn |
Rosie |
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