Director: Zak Penn (Incident at Loch Ness)
Writers: Zak Penn, Matt Bierman
Producers: Jeff Bowler, Ross M. Dinerstein, Gary Marcus, Zak Penn, Bret Saxon, Bobby Schwartz
Starring: Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, Dennis Farina, Chris Parnell, Richard Kind, Werner Herzog
MPAA Rating: R
Running time: 104 min
WWith just two directing credits under his belt, writer, director, producer and all around Hollywood player Zak Penn is on my list of directors to watch. His screenplays for others tend to play in the comic book/action genre but his two turns at the dual role of writer/director have resulted in two great, largely improvised mock-umentaries. Forget great, they’re down right brilliant.
The Grand had come up in conversation last year when we first mentioned it on one of our podcasts. At that point, I had yet to see Penn’s directorial debut, the great Incident at Loch Ness, but having caught up with that film last week, I was determined to see his new offering so when I spotted it was playing at one of the local cheapy cinemas, I had to make the trip.
The Grand Championship of Poker is the biggest poker tournament in the world (or at least in the world of the Indoor Poker League), attracting big players looking to cash in on the ten million dollar cash prize. The film focuses on some of the more colorful players namely Jack Faro, Larry and Lainie Schwartzman, Deuce, Harold Melvin, The German and an apparent new comer Andy Andrews who won his place at the tournament via an online poker website. As the film unfolds in documentary fashion, we learn a little bit about the characters, their families, why they want to win the millions, what makes them tick and how they play the game.
Each character is brought to life by a talented cast including Woody Harrelson as Faro, the out of luck, drugged up casino owner trying to win the big jackpot in order to save his own casino, David Cross and Cheryl Hines as Larry and Laine, siblings working through sibling rivalry and family issues, Dennis Farina as Deuce, the old timer who’s been gambling since the beginning of time and reminisces about the old Vegas, Chris Parnell as the “Dune” obsessed socially awkward math wiz who still lives with his mom, Richard Kind as the new comer who apparently doesn’t know what he’s doing and Werner Herzog as the violent The German who believes “coffee is for pussies” and prefers to get his frustration out by killing animals. Though these are the main players, the cast of this film is a who’s who of Hollywood and the gambling world with appearances from Hank Azaria, Brett Ratner, Jason Alexander and recognizable real-life poker stars Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth Jr. and Doyle Brunson (though I’m sure there are a number of others I don’t recognize).
What makes The Grand so successful is that it really does come across as a documentary and though it focuses a great deal on the wacky players, it also spends a great deal of time on the game itself. Penn is said to have given each actor some guidelines, letting them improvise the characters and to make things a tad more realistic, the final game was completely unscripted and played out exactly as the cards fell and though I never conceived that this had been the case (one would assume that the all important final showdown would be scripted), the final few hands certainly felt authentic. Not only was the interaction and game itself interesting but Penn and the actors involved managed to create characters that one cares for and regardless of who won, someone deserving was going home empty handed.
Though The Grand is humerous, it is not always laugh out loud, hold your gut type of funny. The comedy is in the characters, their actions and though this is a film meant to (and is successful) make you laugh, Penn succeeds at something else as well: allowing the actors to create personas that one can’t help but feel attached to and then bringing it all together into a film that feels truly authentic in an off the wall sort of way.
It’s funny, it’s touching and it’s about poker so if you don’t like the game, you may want to avoid this but if you can follow a poker game and are looking for some seriously fun entertainment, be sure to check this out. You’re guaranteed a winning hand.
Click “play” to see the trailer:
Links:
IMDb profile
Official Site
Flixster Profile for The Grand
I just love the fact that Werner Herzog is named “The German” – looks like a hoot.
Yeah, and he totally plays it up which is pretty funny not to mention his entrance made the theater crack up (though I doubt everyone got the joke).
Glad it was good. I love improv by competent actors and I know Cross, Hines and Harrelson can do this.
I didn’t really like “Incident at Loch Ness” much, but one line in that movie by Herzog had me in tears with laughter. Same goes with this trailer: “I feel the need to kill something daily” is pretty funny.
Can’t find this in my area anywhere – don’t know how you go it so early. Damn you.
Opened in limited release on March 21st and is apparently expanding on April 4th.
And you didn’t like Incident? Sheesh! Even my mom liked that one (she laughed pretty hard at the cryptozoologist doing laundry).
No, I figured out the “secret” pretty early on because the acting was so horrible – from there on out I was actually kind of pissed.
But when Herzog is talking about the marine biologist or whatever she is and he says in his way:
“…she didn’t really…look…like a…. marine biologist.”
On paper, not funny. The way he says it though had me laughing out loud – hard. I actually had to pause the movie for a second and compose myself.
And I had no problem with any of the acting. Sure some of it wasn’t class act but it worked really well as a “documentary” so I didn’t find it detracted from my enjoyment of the movie. And worry not, the acting here is much better all around.
DId I mention I frickin love Dennis Farina? One of my favorite character actors of all time… maybe even more than Michael Ironside.
You know, I don’t remember him from any movies but I DO remember him from Law & Order and I always thought he looked like such a classy, put together kind of asshole…but I loved him!
Snatch.
Dennis Farina in the criminally underrated BIG TROUBLE has a great voyeur commentary moment when witnessing Tim Allen attempting to work up the courage to overthrow his captors: “And it looks like we have a Diehard situation brewing in the Kitchen” – the delivery of that line is note-perfect. Furthermore, his “Do you have anything to Declare” reponse in Snatch is hilarious. A he just shines as Karen Cisco’s dad in Out of Sight.
Oh man, now I really want to see this. If it’s still in theatres early next week I’m definitely going to check it out!
Shannon – and if it’s not, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The April 4th release is looking promising.
Not sure if you guys have Empire theaters back east but they’re the ones playing out here so it maybe worth checking their site!
great review Marina. 4 stars is exactly what i would give it. It definitely had lots of laugh out loud moments. The only downfall is that I just kept comparing it to “Best in Show”, but not quite as good (especially with Michael McKean in there).
Still, went with a large group of people and we all had a good time. The audience seemed to really enjoy it.
One thing I noticed is that different people in the crowd laughed at different things. So there’s a different style of humor in here for everyone…
“…or 2.4 speedboats.” lol
I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it! I’m looking forward to the expansion. There are a few folks around here that want to see it and I’m looking forward to a second viewing!
Since the final scene is unscripted and filmed with real poker hands, I wonder if they filmed it a number of times and have different outcomes. That would be EXCELLENT fodder for the extras section of the DVD.
If memory serves right from research after the film, that is the case. I’m really looking forward to picking this one up down the road. I had a great time with it and “Incident at Loch Ness”. You can count me in as a fan of Penn.