The Grand | 
| Director: Zak Penn
Actors: Woody Harrelson, Chris Parnell
Studio: Anchor Bay - ITN
Category: DVD
List Price: $29.98
Buy New: $2.74
You Save: $27.24 (91%)
New (52) Used (40) from $1.11
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 12962
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 104
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: ANBD15509D
UPC: 013131550993
EAN: 0013131550993
ASIN: B0013ERFFU
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: June 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 04/03/2008 Rating: R
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| Customer Reviews: Read 55 more reviews...
 Not as funny as it wants to be November 20, 2008
With a cast as talented as this, I had high hopes for The Grand. Alas, it did not live up to them. The actors are game enough, but every scene falls flat and fails to merit a smile, let alone a chuckle. You end up feeling embarassed for the performers more than anything else.
Skip this one. You'll be thankful that you did.
dull, unfunny comedy November 14, 2008
"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.
A Mockumentary that Falls Short November 8, 2008
I had no idea what to expect when I received "The Grand" to review. I had never heard of it. And seeing the cast of well-known actors (Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano, Cheryl Hines), I didn't have a good feeling about it. It's been my experience these are typically flops if I've never even heard of them.
My presumption turned out to be largely correct. "The Grand" is cut from the same cloth as "Best In Show", "Spinal Tap" and the like, and in fact includes many of the same actors tha that you'd expect for what seems like the loosely-scripted genre that included Cheryl Hines ("Curb Your Enthisasm") and Michael McKean (who is in most of the Christopher Guest mockumentaries).
There are lots of familiar faces in this movie. David Cross (Arrested Development), Gabe Kaplan (Welcome Back, Kotter), Chris Parnell (Saturday Night Live), Dennis Farina, Estelle Harris. The actors all do a decent job but there just isn't much material to work with.
I do have one caveat. Poker has become big business in the USA, and it may well be that I am just "out of the loop" in this area and don't understand the subtleties of the game. There are some cameos from real poker players in this movie, and in fact Gabe Kaplan (skin stretched too tight for his years) has been a prominent poker player for years.
The acting is good, the story was not interesting to me, but this may well be worth a view if you're a big fan of any of the actors or the world of Poker.
 Quite possibly the worst movie I've ever seen! October 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Save your money, not even worth a rental fee. I read the bad reviews and thought how bad can it really be? It has a good cast, it's about poker which I love, and it's in Vegas! Well, it was terrible! It had to have been written on the fly as it appeared no thought was put into it whatsoever. What a waste of a talented cast.
Know when to fold 'em September 22, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Zak Penn put one of the masters of the mockumentary, Micheal McKean in a supporting role for this Poker Tourney lightweight comedy. What Penn should have done was pay a little more attention to DVD's of Best in Show or A Mighty Wind, because "The Grand" stumbles over too many surreal drags.
Woody Harrelson (as Jack Faro) heads up an all-star ensemble as a drug-addled loser who has to take the big prize or he'll lose the casino his Grandfather left him. He has the part down as a discombobulated stoner whose multiple ex-wives keep dropping in. He's about the funniest thing here. The only other really interesting character is Cheryl Hines (as Lainie Schwartzman), who at least doesn't act like a cardboard cut-out (Dennis Farina, I'm looking at you).
There are also a ton of cameos, like Jason Alexander, Ray Romano, Hank Azaria, and Shannon Elizabeth. Real life Poker-Pros Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, and Phil Laak also make appearances, as well as filmmakers Brett Ratner and Werner Herzog (who puts in a goofy performance as a bunny loving "The German"). But none of this jump starts. A few of the folks are genuinely annoying (although naming a soulless numbers geek Harold Melvin is a good joke) and I just wanted to smack Gabe Kaplan's ugly mug as the creepy, overbearing Dad to the Schwartzmann twins. Too many of the 'jokes' were unfunny and forced - especially the tournament TV announcers. Sometimes, a script ain't such a bad idea.
You want a good Card-Player DVD? Check out Rounders or The Cincinnati Kid. Hell, even Casino will give you a bigger kick. But let's face it, this wanted to be The Spinal Tap of the poker craze. "The Grand" doesn't even lick Christopher Guest's boots.
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