The Grand

Being a regular poker player myself, i was probably more interested in watching this, than a non poker player, but you do not have to be an avid poker fan to enjoy this movie, though it would be slightly more interesting if you was.

Although the main basis of the film is about 6 people who have made the final table of a £10m poker tournament, it goes into more detail at the start of the film, of each particular person and their background etc, so by the end of the movie when the final is being played, you will probably have a favourite as to who you want to win.

But although the movie was watchable, it wasn't that good that you would want to watch it again and halfway through the film you've a pretty good idea how its going to end.

If you are into poker, look out for cameo appearances of Doyle Brunson and Phil Helmuth.

Verdict: Watchable but don't expect too much out of it.

"The Grand" is a mockumentary about six internet poker players who gather in Las Vegas for a $10 million, winner-take-all tournament.

A game, eclectic cast - Woody Harrelson, Hank Azaria, Chris Parnell, Ray Romano, Werner Herzog, Gabe Kaplan - struggles with a mediocre script that, in tone as well as in style, steals clumsily from all those far superior Christopher Guest movies like "Waiting for Guffman," "Best in Show" and "A Mighty Wind." In the case of "The Grand," the humor is largely lacking, as each eccentric character plays out his little assigned shtick over and over and over again.

As executed by writer/director Zak Penn, the poker scenes are particularly languid and lifeless and utterly incomprehensible to any non-poker players who may happen to be a part of the audience.

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.

"The Grand" is funny in parts, but overall there are three unfunny minutes for every funny minute. The movie starts fairly strong, and I was honestly hoping that it would keep up the humor, but it did not. Which is a shame.

Interestingly, what does not work in this film is the poker. At a Q&A after the movie (at the Tribeca Film Festival), the director made a point of immediately stating that the poker was real. They dealt the cards and the actors played in character and the results were up to fate. Very interesting idea. Unfortunately, that did not carry to the movie. There was almost no excitement or tension to the poker tournament, perhaps because it is impossible to build tension in the results of a game when that game is severely edited. I hate to say it, but this film is less exciting and less entertaining than an episode Bravo's "Celebrity Poker." Even though the poker tournament itself is boring, this movie still could have been laugh out loud funny. Unfortunately, it isn't. I hold no grudge against the filmmaker for taking a direct copy of the Christopher Guest play book and running with it. I only wish he'd been more successful so that I could have laughed more than infrequently.

Hopefully this movie's failure will not discourage others from using this formula. I would love to have more comedies in this style. It is not like Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy are the only two people alive who can come up with a concept for a mockumentary. Actually, it's my opinion that "The Grand" has a better premise than several Guest/Levy creations. It should be very funny and entertaining. Unfortunately, it is not.

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.