Lay the Favorite: Movie Review

Tried to turn an unbelievable true story into a fun ride but forgot about the stupidity.

“Lay the Favorite” has many dissenters, most complaining that it’s completely unbelievable. It’s true, it is. Beth (Rebecca Hall) is a ditzy bimbo who quits her job as a stripper and moves to Las Vegas to become a cocktail waitress. A great idea! (Sarcasm). Instead, as soon as she arrives, she gets a very lucrative job as a sports bettor for a bookie who isn’t a bookie since bookmaking is illegal. Apparently, she’s a genius with numbers and words.		2012 Directed by: Stephen Frears Screenplay by: D.V. DeVincentis Starring: Rebecca Hall, Bruce Willis, Joshua Jackson, Catherine Zeta-Jones

Mud: Movie Review

Arkansas, a boat, a tree, two boys, girls, love, snakes and Mud.

Mud (Matthew McConaughey) is the central adult character. He lives in a boat in a tree on an island in Arkansas. And he is dirty. He probably hasn’t bathed in weeks, if not years. He also muddies the truth a bit – just a bit, to reflect his version of the world. Our teenage boy protagonists hesitantly take him at his word – there’s no reason for him to be any less dependable than their own parents and guardian.		2012 Directed by: Jeff Nichols Screenplay by: Jeff Nichols Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Ray McKinnon

The Oranges: Movie Review

A plethora of actors show how to make a dysfunctional family dramedy funny.

“The Oranges” centers on two families, each with mom and dad and former teenage daughter (now a twenty-something daughter), living across the street from each other in West Orange, New Jersey. It’s kind of like a dysfunctional family dramedy except the families really do function normal enough and well enough prior to the beginning of the plot. And also it’s a comedy. It poses some fairly serious questions but presents them all in a light-hearted, humorous fashion.		2011 Directed by: Julian Farino Screenplay by: Ian Helfer, Jay Reiss Starring: Leighton Meester, Hugh Laurie, Alia Shawkat, Oliver Platt