By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Zak Penn
Starring: Cheryl Hines | Chris Parnell | David Cross | Dennis Farina | Richard Kind | Werner Herzog | Woody Harrelson
Country: united_states
Year: 2008
Running time: 104
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427998/
Michael says: “After mining the mock-documentary genre for some laughs, Zak Penn, known for writing blockbuster, superhero flicks, tackles the improvisational comedy genre a la Christopher Guest with fairly amusing results. THE GRAND gives us a comedic look into the world of the inexplicably successful poker tournament. Set in Las Vegas, this faux documentary sets up a tournament where the winner will take home 10 million dollars. We are introduced to a dozen or so of the top contenders; a colorful bunch to say the least. We are given some background on the players, we meet their unusual families, and we listen in on a pair of offbeat commentators, and while it’s all so familiar (think BEST OF SHOW) it’s also pretty darn funny.
“The story revolves around One Eyed Jack Faro (Woody Harrelson), Las Vegas club owner, and a man who has never met an addictive substance he hasn’t loved. Jack has run into a little trouble, and is in danger of losing his club to the Billionaire Steve Lavisch (Michael McKean) a slightly off man who has vowed to demolish Jack’s club The Rabbit’s Foot when he takes it over. In a last ditch effort, Jack holds The Grand Poker Tournament, and in a controversial move, signs up as a participant. The other players are a cornucopia of characters, from Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell) a genius afflicted with Asperger’s Syndrome or some other social affliction who is obsessed with science fiction; to The German (Zak Penn’s ace-in-the-hole Werner Herzog) who kills small animals to maintain balance and calm.
“The cast is terrific. Cheryl Hines (WAITRESS) plays the lone woman to make the final six, along with her brother played by David Cross (he was Ginsberg in I’M NOT THERE). The siblings’ father is a terrific bit of stunt casting as Gabe Kaplan makes his triumphant return to acting after 23 years! (His last appearance was on ‘Murder She Wrote’ in 1984!) Ray Romano takes a turn as Hines’ husband bringing his offbeat routine to a man obsessed with fantasy football and riddled with tics after being struck by lightning. And these are just some of the principals. Penn peppers the cast with familiar and unfamiliar faces to bring to life a wacky and eclectic crowd of poker players.
“THE GRAND was much funnier than I was expecting, and well-written to boot. With some people thinking Guest might be running out of steam, perhaps Penn will take up the mantle of this extremely funny, but often tricky genre. 4 cats.”
Jasonsays: “Like the Marvel superheroes in the movies for which he writes screenplays, Zak Penn lives a double life. Sure, by day he’s churning out nondescript comic book adaptations, but by night he directs mock documentaries with Werner Herzog – and they’re far more entertaining than the likes of his ‘X-Men’ scripts would have you expect.
“THE GRAND focuses on a Las Vegas poker tournament with a ten million dollar winner-take-all pot. Though it takes place in the Golden Palace, it was started by the founder of The Rabbit’s Foot, whose embattled owner Jack Faro (Woody Harrelson) needs the money to cover a bridge loan or risk losing his grandpappy’s casino. He starts the movie in rehab for every kind of addiction available – drugs, alcohol, tobacco, marriage (he’s been married approximately 72 times). He’s got some stiff competition at the tournament, though: Twins Larry (David Cross) and Lainie (Cheryl Hines) Schwartzman hail from Long Island, New York, and have been competing from a very early age, when their father (Gabe Kaplan) would pit them against each other but only encourage Lainie in order to motivate Larry. Lainie brings her family along with her, three kids and husband Fred Marsh (Ray Romano), who has been more than a bit peculiar ever since surviving a lightning strike. He doesn’t quite compare to Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell) in the strange department, though; Melvin still lives with his mother (Estelle Harris) in his late twenties or early thirties, although his obsessive nature (to the point of being Asperger’s) gives him a leg up calculating odds at the table. We also meet ‘Deuce’ Fairbanks (Dennis Farina), who is basically Dennis Farina, an old rat-packer who misses the days when Vegas was committed to his trashiness; not enough legs get broken these days. Then there’s The German (Werner Herzog), who is basically Werner Herzog on an especially crazy day, and Andy Andrews (Richard Kind), a rube from Wisconsin who won his seat playing poker online.
“Those are just the main characters, of course; the likes of Jason Alexander, Judy Greer, Michael McKean, Hank Azaria, and others show up for quick bits as other players or supporting cast. The script for this movie is said to be only thirty or forty pages long, which means that there was not only plenty of room for improvisation, but most of the good jokes likely had to come from there. Some of these actors are playing fairly familiar personae – Dennis Farina, Richard Kind, and David Cross are playing exactly the characters one might expect, for instance, but that just means they know just what these people will do without thinking.
“The less-obvious characters are just as funny, though. Werner Herzog arguably belongs in the ‘familiar’ category – the photographs of Herzog used to tell us of The German’s strange exploits are likely unretouched – but The German is so deadpan bizarre that even Herzog’s reputation for eccentricity isn’t enough. Consider that during the sit-down interview segments, he’s patting his pet rabbit like he’s Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and it still feels like a tease for something even stranger. Then there’s Parnell’s Harold, who eschews the usual basement-dwelling nerd stereotypes in favor of an obsession with David Lynch’s adaptation of Dune, which is just far enough off the beaten path to be humorously strange to non-fans but to give those who are just familiar with the franchise a laugh when he recites the Mentat’s Mantra or says Lainie has the hairstyle of an Arrakinean prostitute. Which, of course, leads to a joke about the announcer who immediately claims experience with Arrakinean prostitutes.
“Penn does a nice job herding all these strange characters; there was likely a lot of good stuff to edit. In style, it’s much closer to
Christopher Guest mockumentaries like A MIGHTY WIND and BEST IN SHOW than his previous entry in the genre: INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS, aside from having Werner Herzog play the sanest person in the cast, was played with a completely straight face and a fairly linear story. There’s story to THE GRAND, but the majority of it is jokes packed into a loose structure.
“Most of them are good jokes, although every viewer will likely have a list of things they’d like more of and less of (I would trade a bunch of Ray Romano for more Werner Herzog). I’m sure aficionados could find flaws with the poker, as well, but you don’t have to be a Mentat to calculate that the bits that work add up to much more than the bits that don’t.
“Seen 7 April 2008 at Landmark Kendall Square #4 (first-run). 4 cats.”