• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
• Video Codec: AVC MPEG-4
• Resolution: 1080p/24 (23.976Hz)
• Audio Codec: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
• Subtitles Color: White
• Region: A (Region-Locked)
• Rating: R
• Run Time: 94 Mins
• Discs: 1 (1 x Blu-ray)
• Digital Copies: None
• Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment
• Blu-ray Release Date: March 12, 2013
• List Price: $29.98

–

Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]

Click thumbnails for high-resolution 1920X1080p screen captures

(The below TheaterByte screen captures are lightly compressed with lossy JPEG at 100% quality setting and are meant as a general representation of the content. They do not fully reveal the capabilities of the Blu-ray format)

–

The Film

[Rating:2/5]

Lay The Favorite tells the story of professional odds-maker Dink (Bruce Willis), who is known for his small-time sports gambling enterprise. When he’s approached by Beth (Rebecca Hall), a stripper who promises to help him score big, Dink suddenly realizes that he’s made a new friend. Initially, everything is working out well for Dink and his new friend – until Dink’s wife Tulip (Catherine Zeta-Jones) finds out what he’s up to. What results is a film that has a few strong moments thanks to the cast, but ends up falling short due to too much inconsistency from scene to scene.

Some of the best scenes in Lay The Favorite come courtesy of the film’s cast, specifically Rebecca Hall (who is almost unrecognizable here.) Hall, like some of her other efforts (especially the excellent The Town) is easily able to add both a sense of style and charm to her performance. Willis, as well, hits the right notes coming off as convincing in his role. Miscast here is Zeta-Jones who, in this reviewers humble opinion, should quit acting at this stage (after this one, Playing for Keeps, and Rock of Ages.) What doesn’t work, and ultimately ends up really hurting the film, is the lack of consistency from scene to scene. Perhaps it was more the scenes featuring Zeta-Jones that really didn’t work, or maybe it was that the cast (despite Hall and Willis trying) never really looked fully involved.

Video Quality

[Rating:5/5]

Lay The Favorite arrives with a 1:85:1 framed, AVC MPEG-4 encoded transfer, one of which is excellent. Shot using Sony’s CineAlta F35 Cameras, Vegas has quite the natural, clean look and feel to its image. Detail is strong throughout, whether it be facial close-ups or wider, exterior shots. Contrast levels also remain accurate, while the film’s color palette (even though it can be a bit on the darker side in some sequences) features bright, vibrant colors that easily capture the Las Vegas setting. DNR, EE or any other anomalies are nowhere to be found. All in all, this is an impressive effort from Anchor Bay.

Audio Quality

[Rating:4/5]

This Blu-ray Disc includes a lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, available in English. While the film’s video presentation is perfect, the film’s audio falls a few notches below. Dialogue is mostly well reproduced via the center channel. The sequences where we have normal dialogue (i.e. no background) sounded fine; however, whenever the film switches over to a more active moment (during action), some of the dialogue is lost to some of the effects. This isn’t a huge issue, as it only occurs a few times. Outside of that, the rest of this mix works well with the film.

Supplemental Materials

[Rating:0.5/5]

All included features are presented in High Definition:

• Deleted Scenes – 11 scenes, totaling 7:41, are shown.

The Definitive Word

Overall:

[Rating:2.5/5]

While Anchor Bay has put together a technically solid Blu-ray for their Lay The Favorite, the film is far to inconsistent to really recommend. Skip this one.

Additional Screen Captures

[amazon-product]B00BP4WDG4[/amazon-product]

[amazon-product]B00ATP24XC[/amazon-product]

BestBuy.com:

Purchase Lay The Favorite on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

–

[amazon-product]B00BP4WDG4[/amazon-product]

[amazon-product]B00ATP24XC[/amazon-product]

BestBuy.com:

Purchase Lay The Favorite on Blu-ray at CD Universe

Shop for more Blu-ray titles on Amazon.com

Overall
[Rating:2.5/5]
The Film
[Rating:2/5]
Video Quality
[Rating:5/5]
Audio Quality
[Rating:4/5]
Supplemental Materials
[Rating:0.5/5]

–