STUDIO: Anchor Bay Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: April 4, 2008
STARRING: Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind, Shannon Elizabeth, Mike Epps, Dennis Farina, Judy Greer, Michael McKean, Chris Parnell, Ray Romano, Gabe Kaplan, and Werner Herzog
WRITTEN BY: Zak Penn & Matt Bierman
DIRECTED BY: Zak Penn
GENRE: Comedy
RATING: R

Clearly modeled after the successful films of Christopher Guest, Zak Penn's The Grand could almost be called "Best in Vegas." The improvisational comedy hits most of the same beats as Guest's Best in Show, replacing dog fanatics with poker junkies and reveling in the odd back stories and ridiculous quirks of its characters. Penn assembles an undeniably talented group of comedians including a few actors - David Cross, Judy Greer, Chris Parnell - who have an uncanny ability to make everything they do just a little bit better. The myriad of stories behind the goofy outfits and the odd behavior at any poker tournament seem ripe for comedy, especially that of the improvisational type, but The Grand bets all its chips in the first reel and then slowly starts to lose hand after hand.

Woody Harrelson stars in The Grand as Jack Faro, a classic underdog who has gambled and drank away his fame and fortune even after inheriting the Rabbit's Foot Casino from his grandfather. Jack's been married 74 times and had a few too many cocktails along the poker table of life and now finds himself on his last hand. Developer Steve Lavisch (Michael McKean) is going to take the Casino away from Jack and build a one-room mega-hotel, catering to high-end clients who want the whole casino to themselves, unless Faro can come up with millions to save it. Of course, a well-timed poker tournament, which is (somewhat ridiculously) winner-take-all would help. Competing with Jack are a number of colorful characters including Deuce Fairbanks (Dennis Farina), who gives a hilarious streetside eulogy to the old days of Vegas, the uber-competitive twins Lanie & Larry Schwatrzman (Cheryl Hines and David Cross), the borderline autistic Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell), the lovable schlub Andy (Richard Kind), and the movie-stealing "The German" (Werner Herzog), who has to drink the blood of live animals (mostly rabbits and gerbils) to feel like he's ready to compete.

You won't see many things this year as funny as famed filmmaker Werner Herzog parodying his own persona as, well, a crazy man, but, after the clever introductions, The Grand has a frustrating habit of getting less and less funny as it goes along. The back stories are very funny and early cameos by talented people like Judy Greer hint at a rich, hilarious movie to come....and it just never does. Like a straight-draw that never gets its final card, I kept waiting for The Grand to develop into something more when it dawned on me that waiting was exactly what the entire team was doing. The Grand is yet another case of talented people creating interesting characters but then forgetting to give them something just-as-interesting to do.

Almost as frustrating is the odd fact that the actual poker at the final table, which was reportedly not even scripted as to who would win, doesn't even feel genuine, so even card-lovers won't get a kick out of watching the tournament. Despite how much I respect so many of the people involved in making The Grand, the best word to describe the final product would be lazy. It's as if director Zak Penn and his ensemble thought that the set-up, the original characters, and the stakes of the tournament would be enough and didn't realize that the film would become boring without something more. The final reel of The Grand feels like little more than a celebrity poker tournament, the kind that you could see on cable nearly any day of the week. The cast is so good and there's enough good material in the first act to almost merit a recommendation, but, like a poker player who just stops getting dealt the cards he needs, the film runs out of chips long before the credits roll.