Watch: Rebecca Hall & Bruce Willis Have A Sunset Strip Singalong In First Clip From Stephen Frears' 'Lay The Favorite'

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by Oliver Lyttelton
January 18, 2012 11:40 AM
5 Comments

Many rock stars want to be actors, despite having no real capacity for it, while conversely, many actors would like to be singers, again, without necessarily having the ability to carry a tune. Among them is Bruce Willis, who inexplicably had a successful album, "The Return of Bruno," in the 1980s. Fortunately, we've been spared his vocal stylings for a while on screen, but our time of rest is over; if you've ever wanted to hear John McClane take on The Hollies' "The Air That I Breathe," 1) You're in luck, and 2) What's wrong with you?

Only a few days before it premieres at Sundance, a first-look clip of Stephen Frears' "Lay The Favorite" has premiered over at EW, and it shows the film's leads, Rebecca Hall and Bruce Willis, cruising through Vegas while sharing a sing-along (or in Willis' case, a drunken-dad-at-a-wedding bellow-along) to the Albert Hammond-written classic. There's not a lot revealed besides that, but it's good to see the film in motion; Hall looks delightful, and there seems to be plenty of chemistry between her and Willis.

The actress plays a stripper-turned-waitress who falls in with a professional gambler who thinks he has a way of beating the system (Willis), while Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vince Vaughn and Joshua Jackson make up the supporting cast. Frears has been off his game for a little while with "Cheri" and "Tamara Drewe," but the film seems to be a return to the kind of seedy crime flick that has made up some of his best work, including "The Hit," "The Grifters" and "Dirty Pretty Things," so we've got a good feeling about this one. The first screening will be in Park City on Saturday night, and we should have our review not long after for you.

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More: Stephen Frears, Lay The Favorite, Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall

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Tim | November 4, 2012 3:52 AMReply

I saw Parade's End and thought of Hall as very annoying. I thought it was just the character. She plays a socialite and her posh accent is so over-the-top, she just come across as a trying-hard wannabee. And then this! Good heavens she needs elocution classes.
Kevin | January 18, 2012 7:46 PMReply

Does Rebecca Hall play a helium addict in this movie?
Bedtime in Manhattan | January 18, 2012 7:20 PMReply

Is that even Hall's voice? She sounds so annoying... and un-Hall like. Barf.
WRT | January 18, 2012 3:59 PMReply

That was beyond annoying. Thumbs way down for Rebecca Hall and this cheese
mike | January 18, 2012 3:59 PMReply

I'm not sure what to think. I know this is just a short clip, but I thought what Hall was doing was really bizarre. Hmm...