3 out of 5

Director: Stephen Frears

If not for a suddenly sappy and typical “find yourself” ending, ‘Lay the Favorite’ could’ve been the odd gem of a movie, filled with perfect casting of recognizable faces who makes their roles incredibly human and (initially) smart scripting that gives us a unique in to the world of betting in Vegas.  It balances on an odd tone between anxiety and humor as you’re waiting for our lead – a spunky Rebecca Hall, somehow making a seemingly vacuous character into someone you care about – to run into a dead end.  When she finally does, the film gives up balancing things and just goes for triumphant music and a happy song.  So Hall plays a stripper who gets fed up with Florida life and scoots to Vegas, where she eventually goes to work for legal gamblin’ man Dink – Willis – and runs afoul of his high upkeep wife (Zeta-Jones) but puts her acknowledged knack for numbers to good use running lines for the win-big lose-big Dink.  Is it a gambling film?  Sure.  The title is gambling terminology and the flick has no problem putting some focus on the glitz of the life but also lays bare the simple “you can gamble on anything” mentality that rumbles through as a theme in the movie (and comes back around for that sappy conclusion).  But besides the fun glimpse into the small gears that are constantly at work behind the bright lights we generally see in Vegas movies, the real charm here is in how human all of our actors are:  Hall’s Beth Raymer should be an idiot, and her giddy glee doesn’t deny that spirit, but we buy her aw shucks approach and believe that her motivation is the thrill of things and not the money.  Willis is amazing as Dink.  It’s an incredibly humble role, but it’s the first film in a long time that lets him be comfortable and yet act – it’s not directly fatherly, it’s not directly humorous, and it’s only a role Bruce could’ve played at this point in his career.  Even Zeta-Jones, whose part could’ve been one dimensional, finds a way (with the help of the script) to twist a conniving character into one half of a strange relationship we suddenly understand.  Cinematographer Mike McDonough’s look on the flick is also amazing – I haven’t seen such vibrant colors before that feel so natural.  Every scene just feels comfortable.  Frears excels at these pastiches of humanity within glamor, and it’s an odd match – the actors, the directors, the setting – but it works extremely well… before it has to get back to its plot.