Lay the Favourite Review

As a big Bruce Willis fan, I’m interested to see that he’s picking some slightly offbeat roles recently. Firstly in Wes Anderson’sMoonrise Kingdom (surely the equivalent to Arnold Schwarzenegger starring in a Coen Brothers film or Sylvester Stallone leading an Alexander Payne flick) and now in Stephen Frears’ Lay the Favourite, which shares its theme of the trials and tribulations of young woman maturing into adulthood with his previous feature, Tamara Drewe.

The film is led by an irrepressibly bubbly Rebecca Hall, who plays Beth Raymer, a vaguely idiot-savant character and private dancer who moves to Las Vegas to seek her fortune. There she falls under the wing of Willis’s charismatic bookmaker, Dink, who employs her based on her skills with numbers. They embark on a pseudo-romance that properly irks Dink’s emotionally fragile wife Tulip, boldly played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Despite Beth’s cool head and street smarts, things get out of hand for her when she becomes embroiled with Rosie (Vaughn), a slightly bananas fellow bookie operating illegally in New York.

The tale is based on the real Beth Raymer’s memoir. Given that the film seems to cram quite a lot into its relatively short runtime, I would guess that the book is probably quite an interesting read. I got the impression that quite a lot of stuff had happened to our hot panted-heroine prior to the beginning of the film and that more would follow after the credits rolled. It’s to Hall’s credit that her portrayal suggests this sense of history for her character. She gives a lovely, endearing performance; her Beth at first seems to be an adult that has never grown up past teen-hood. As the film progresses, her innate and shrewd intelligence reveals itself. I loved Hall in her supporting roles in the none-more-bleak Red Riding and in The Prestige, so it’s fantastic to see her given a leading role to show off her talents. Willis is also very good. On the strength of this performance, I’d hope he continues to plump for more dramatic roles, rather than phoning it in on the latest 50 Cent film or whatever.

For all its considerable charms though, Lay the Favourite is perhaps just that little bit too frothy and ultimately, somewhat forgettable. Though the world of gambling it portrays is ruthless, the film unfortunately lacks true grit. A more personal criticism would be that the film does little to explain the complex mechanics of professional gambling, which is one of the few arenas of life where my knowledge is considerably less than total (ahem). As such, I was often a bit lost as to what was actually happening; obviously I could tell when the stakes were high and when Good Things and Bad Things happened to the characters, but Frears could have done more to involve the audience in the mechanics of the action, that is if you can call lots of phone calls and digits changing on screens action. Though maybe I’m simply prejudiced against Frears, given how rude he was to me at the Tamara Drewe premiere.

Those criticisms aside though, Lay the Favourite is a wholly enjoyable film. Its main strength is its very decent cast. Even Vince Vaughn, who hasn’t been in a halfway decent film in at least five years, is pretty good. The characters are likable, the plot engaging enough and the script often impresses. Whilst it probably won’t set the multiplexes alight, Lay the Favourite is sure to find its audience on television or DVD in years to come. A light but likable film.

The Dilemma Review

Vince Vaughn arguably hasn’t had a leading role in a decent film since 2004 with Dodgeball, which seems like an awfully long time ago. And whilst The Dilemma does not really hail a glorious comeback, it is something of an interesting failure.

Ronny and Nick (Vaughn and James) are best friends and business partners on the cusp of sealing a major deal with Dodge automobiles, having successfully pitched their idea for an electric car engine that provides the same revs and rumbles as a gas-guzzler. Things become problematic, however, when Ronny spies Nick’s wife Geneva (Ryder) kissing another man (Tatum). Ronny’s titular dilemma is how and when to tell Nick about Geneva’s infidelity and whether telling him sooner rather than later will compromise Nick’s abilities in the engine room in the crucial week before their big presentation. Ronny’s increasingly secretive nature also jeopardises his own relationship with Beth (Connelly). The action is directed by Ron Howard.

In its original draft, I’m willing to bet that The Dilemma’s script was actually very good – despite the film’s frothy, friendly, advertising campaign, the picture is actually surprisingly dark at times. Ronny’s previous gambling addiction informs much of the action and his friends’ suspicions of him. The effects of infidelity on lovers and friends are also portrayed with something approaching brutal honesty. Unfortunately, the film has rather obviously been rewritten into a rather tamer beast, possibly at the behest of its director or star.

A more mainstream-friendly rewrite is not the film’s only problem. Drastic shifts in tone, an uneven focus on the engine-development subplot, rather outdated usage of the word ‘gay’ and a slow start to the humour don’t help the film. Women are given something of a short shrift in the film. Jennifer Connelly is lumbered with dull role and given little opportunity to shine and Winona Ryder’s ‘bitch’ role seems reductive of the more complex issues hinted at in the script and is also a rather annoying stereotype. Whilst Ryder’s character takes whatever flak is thrown at her, the menfolk are seemingly beyond reproach. There are also several weird flaws in the plot – the strand that discusses Nick’s visitations of massage parlours is never resolved and it seems strange that Ronny wouldn’t tell Beth about Geneva’s unfaithfulness straight away, rather than risking their relationship. There’s also a needless layer of extra jeopardy added between Geneva and Ronny that serves very little to the plot.

There are other flaws too, but to list too many would distract from the film’s strong points. The cast give generally decent performances and Vaughn in particular redeems himself somewhat for the recent tripe he has put his name to with a good comic performance (his toast at Beth’s parents’ anniversary party being an obvious highlight). Channing Tatum is also surprisingly funny as Geneva’s younger lover and Queen Latifah also raises a smile in a minor role. The charm of the cast, some genuine, if infrequent moments of humour and the central conundrum of the plot saveThe Dilemma from being a total car crash. Whilst it is perhaps too problematic to justify parting with ten pounds at the cinema, it may enjoy more interest on DVD. And even if you don’t like Vince Vaughn, you can console yourself with the frankly astonishing frequency with which he gets smacked in the face in the film.