Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on January 2013

A betting man would probably put some money down on a Las Vegas gambling dramedy starring Bruce Willis, Rebecca Hall, Vince Vaughn and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and directed by Stephen Frears. He’d lose. Willis offers some manic energy in the first half, and Hall is enjoyably bubbly, but the tedious, sitcom-ish story, based on an archly affected memoir by Beth Raymer, is simply not compelling enough to maintain the interest of anyone not in the betting biz. The insider perspective it promises is shallow at best, and the development of some potentially interesting characters is perfunctory.