The Grand (2007)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Zak Penn

Writers (WGA):

Zak Penn (written by) &
Matt Bierman (written by)

Release Date:

4 April 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

A comedy about the fine art of losing

Plot:

An improvisational comedy using a handful of actors playing characters competing in an actual poker tournament. |

Plot Keywords:

Poker

Cast

Julie Claire	...	Dr. Jamie Sellers
David Cross	...	Larry Schwartzman
Shannon Elizabeth	...	Toni
Mike Epps	...	Reggie Marshall
Dennis Farina	...	L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks
Judy Greer	...	Sharon Andrews
Woody Harrelson	...	One Eyed Jack Faro
Estelle Harris	...	Ruth 'Nana' Melvin
Werner Herzog	...	The German
Cheryl Hines	...	Lainie Schwartzman
Gabe Kaplan	...	Seth Schwartzman
Michael Karnow	...	Mike Werbe
Richard Kind	...	Andy Andrews
Michael McKean	...	Billionaire Steve Lavisch
Chris Parnell	...	Harold Melvin

Also Known As:

Untitled Zak Penn Project (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some drug content.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino - 129 Fremont Street, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Company:

Insomnia Media Group

Trivia:

The script was barely 29 pages long. Zak Penn had the actors improvise.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In a scene, there's a showdown between Jack and The German. The community cards show 6d 8d 2d 2s 9d. Jack has Kd Qd making a King high flush. Phil Gordon makes a comment that the only hand that can beat this is an Ace high flush. But, there are actually 10 hands better than King high flush. The better hands would be, in descending order: 7d + 10d to make a 10 high straight flush 5d + 7d to make a 9 high straight flush 2h + 2c to make four of a kind, 2's 9 + 9 to make a full house 9's full of 2's 8 + 8 to make a full house 8's full of 2's 6 + 6 to make a full house 6's full of 2's 2 + 9 to make a full house 2's full of 9's 2 + 8 to make a full house 2's full of 8's 2 + 6 to make a full house 2's full of 6's Ad + any card to make an Ace high flush.

Quotes:

L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks: Will you take a look at all of this crap.
[Indicating the modern Las Vegas strip.]
L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks: Buried underneath all of this is a history; history of Las Vegas. It's the place where Moe Dalitz opened up his first burlesque club. Place where you can find a thirteen year old in a whorehouse if that was your pleasure. It was a place where the Jews and the blacks had to enter the casinos through rear entrances. By the way, on this corner right here, I stabbed a bum.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-03-22)" (2008)

bests Christopher guest

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.