Soon, it becomes evident that all characters in movie have somehow failed - as criminals and/or as parents/children, so there are no totally positive or negative types. But the events develop and - with the help of background snow - the viewers are shown different characters who, in the end, will sit at one table. The movie has all elements of crime drama - shootings, dead bodies, police work, chases - included but not limited to. However, the plot is uneven and the ending is shallow. Not sure if I will ever watch it again but I am glad I gave it a try.
Rebecca Hall does an excellent job as a naive bookie in Lay. The other actors, Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Vince Vaughn are great in their supporting roles, but.... This movie was poorly written: the jokes fall flat, the script doesn't develop enough so that the audience can care about the characters, the gambling is explained only enough so that gamblers can understand what the actors are doing and there is very little plot action that's not inside an office looking at TV screens with sports games on them.
It is hard then to get enthusiastic about such an uneven and overlong movie. The script is weak because of a plot that is too linear, and rather shallow and bland characters. One could also question the level of faithfulness of the story to reality, some twists seeming a little easy. If I was not a fan of Jessica this movie really would not have been worth watching (for me).