The Grand

I just saw this movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. It was hard to get a ticket to the show and I waited in line for a while. I was lucky to get in because it was raining. But once I got inside, I forgot all about being wet because I was laughing too hard.

Now let me just say that I'm not a fan of Zack Penn's movies. I hated X-Men 3 and all the other superhero crap he's written. But I did love Incident At Lock Ness, which I thought was pretty clever and I really loved seeing Werner Herzog (who is my hero, if you couldn't tell from my name) playing with his mystique.

But I guess I should get to actually reviewing this movie. It was hilarious. Even better than Lock Ness. The movie is also a mockumentary, very much like Best In Show by Christopher Guest, but follows a bunch of poker players who are all crazy, as they reach the final table in a poker tournament. They are played by a bunch of recognizable comedians like Ray Romano, the wife from Curb Your Enthusiasm but even better, David Cruss (my favorite character) from the awesome Mr. Show and Chris Parnell from SNL. And of course, the always awesome Herzog, who plays "The German" a guy who likes to kill animals rather than drink caffeine.

What was really cool is that Zack explained in his Q&A afterwords that the final poker table was played for real and whoever won the game, won the movie. I won't spoil who wins, but just say that it makes it totally impossible to predict who wins the movie because all the characters have the same chance of winning.

I think the other reviewer who gave the movie five stars out of ten has something against the movie. It wasn't great art, like Werner's normal movies, but tremendously entertaining. It is very funny, sometimes very slapstick and other times very absurd. I think anyone who likes Christopher Guest movies or any of these great comedians will love the film.

A 'mockumentary' about a ten million dollar poker tournament, this is chock full of familiar faces. The best poker players are invited to the Rabbit's Foot Casino in Vegas, an aging hold-out amidst the shiny high rise establishments.

The introductions, via 'interviews', to the off-beat characters is the most interesting part of the film, starting with the casino owner, Woody Harrelson. Harrelson is a stoner (and yes, he always nails that character), married 74 times (and 'loved them all') who inherited the casino from his grandfather (Barry Corbin, in flashback scenes). After a long stint in rehab, he is playing in the tournament at his casino (is this allowed?) to save the place from developer Michael McKean. McKean is a rather vacuous self absorbed rich guy who likes to put up shiny buildings and he wants to use the land for a huge hotel that is actually just one room - the rate is a million dollars a night.

Supposedly, there was no script for the poker game segments -it was ad-libbed. If this is true, Parnell proves to be the one adept at improv who can carry the scenes, and he really is quite good. This, however, is the problem with the film, unlike the wonderful mockumentary films of Christopher Guest, there wasn't enough of a script written by those who know comedy, or a cast that can pull off so much improvisation. There are some funny moments in the film, and these are talented actors..but they seem to be left to their own devices too often with little direction on what to do with their wacky characters.

The Grand (2008)***

Zak Penn, writer of various superhero pictures, makes his return to the directors chair in this wildly uneven but nevertheless entertaining improvisational comedy. The film chronicles various poker players as they try to win big at The Grand Tournament in Las Vegas. Among the players are: Jack Fero (Woody Harrelson), a substance abusing womanizer looking to win the 10 million dollar pot to save his grandfather's passed down casino; Larry and Lanie Schwartzman (David Cross and Cheryl Hines), brother and sister competitors (also involved is their father and Lanie's husband, Fred, played by Ray Romano); Andy Andrews (Richard Kind), an amateur who has somehow made it all the way to the tournament, apparently on luck; Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell), a lonely Dune quoting genius who lives with his mother; Deuce Fairbanks (Dennis Farina), the oldtimer with many stories to tell about the old Las Vegas; and The German, a hardcore, animal sacrificing, quote poet played by who else but Werner Herzog. Various other actors, directors, and real life poker pros have cameos, some good, some just meh.

There really isn't a whole lot to say for the plot, other than its about a poker tournament. Characters have their various story lines: Jack trying to save his casino; Larry and Lanie trying to deal with their overbearing father; Fred trying to get Manning on Yahoo! Fantasy Football; Harold and Andy have a budding friendship; Deuce, the German, and Jack's grandfather used to pal around, etc. Its mostly filler for comedy and those times where poker tables go on break. There are moments when the backstories have some very funny comedy (such as the relationship between Lanie and Fred); also very funny is Michael McKeen as the man trying to swindle Jack out of his casino. Other times the comedy is just a bit flat, backstory or front story. There are moments where jokes don't flow well, and certain jokes seem to be coming from another movie entirely. But overall, the laughs are consistently there, not always big but grinworthy. Besides, McKean and Herzog, for the amount of screen time they have, are almost worth the price of admission alone. Brett Ratner, of all people, also has a couple good moments that I suspect might be either hit or miss with most audiences.

Penn is obviously going for a Spinal Tap or Guest-like rendering of poker tournaments. The dry wit is there, but so are the obvious go-for-laugh moments. Its not nearly as subtle as it could have been. The actors though mostly all deliver. Commendable in particular is the performance by Gabe Kaplan, pro poker player and Welcome Back Kotter alumnus, as Seth Schwartzman. He's annoying, as he was meant to be, but also pretty funny. Ray Romano is also very funny as the neurotic lighting strike survivor Fred.

So improvisational was the set that Penn stated that they even improved the final table. They of course gave extra cash to players they wanted to win, but apparently things didn't pan out. Whatever the case, The Grand is overall a hit or miss affair that hits more often than it misses. I enjoy the impromptu nature of improv comedy, and the actors are clever enough to hit the funny in short bursts.

Yes, its silly, but so was Spinal Tap, which The Grand owes a debt to in many ways.

Gabe Kaplan is hilarious as the father of two poker pros and Dennis Farina has the old time Vegas hood down pat. Phil Gordon, the best live teacher in poker, has some great lines as the tournament commentator.

You will spot a friend or yourself in one or more of the players, and the cameos are fun, including Phil "the hillside strangler" Laak as he was introduced..

If you like poker and still have a funny bone, this is as good as it gets.

I have to say I really enjoyed this film. I saw it at Tribeca last month and to be honest I didn't have high expectations. I personally don't like most of the movies the writer/director (Zak Penn) has written of late (mostly big action comic book movies), but this is not that kind of film.

What honestly attracted me to this film was that it's an improv style film starring one of my favorite SNL people ever, Chris Parnell. He doesn't disappoint. He plays a lonely poker player who has some kind of mental problem where he's brutally honest and very, very skilled in math (which makes him a great player). Chris steals every scene he's in, which aren't enough if you ask me, but I'm biased so take that with a grain of salt.

The other actors hold their own in their respective roles all working to try and win a big tournament for 10 million dollars. I don't know enough about poker to know if it's at all accurate, but the good thing is the film doesn't really focus on actual poker all that often.

If you like the films of Christopher Guest (which I do), then I think you'll like this film as well.