The Grand

A typically uneven fake documentary, The Grand follows several off-kilter figures as they assemble in Las Vegas for a pivotal poker tournament that’ll leave the winner $10 million richer – with the film, for the most part, detailing the exploits of the various players and their ongoing efforts at qualifying for the final competition. Filmmaker Zak Penn has infused The Grand with a meandering sensibility that does, at the outset, prevent the viewer from wholeheartedly embracing the material, with the movie’s less-than-engrossing feel compounded by Penn’s decision to stress dialogue of an obviously improvised nature (ie as is the case with Christopher Guest’s comedies, there’s too much here that simply feels like unfunny filler). It’s clear, then, that the film benefits substantially from the efforts of its impressively eclectic cast, with the presence of such inherently charismatic folks as Woody Harrelson, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer, and Richard Kind certainly going a long way towards compensating for the otherwise pervasively uneven atmosphere. (As strong as those performers are, however, there’s little doubt that the movie’s MVP is Werner Herzog; cast as an intimidating figure known only as The German, Herzog puts an often hilarious spin on his idiosyncratic persona that proves impossible to resist.) And although the narrative has been suffused with sequences of a palpably needless nature (eg several characters bicker at a fancy restaurant), The Grand does boast a handful of admittedly suspenseful and engaging sequences set at the poker table – with the final hand far more tense than one might’ve initially suspected. (Of course, Penn virtually negates the effectiveness of this moment by chasing it with a seemingly endless epilogue.) The end result is a passable piece of work that could (and should) have been so much better, although it does seem entirely likely that viewers with an interest in poker might be more susceptible to the film’s charms (ie despite his best efforts, Penn isn’t entirely able to open the game up to neophytes).

**1/2 out of ****