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The Grand

Improv comedy is a 50/50 bet

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
March 20, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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Six eccentric characters square off in a winner-take-all poker tournament in this heavily improvised comedy. There’s hard living ladies man’ Jack Faro (Woody Harrelson), overly aggressive Larry Schwartzman (David Cross) and his foul-mouthed sister Lainie (Cheryl Hines), Midwestern online poker amateur Andy Andrews (Richard Kind), old school Vegas regular “Deuce” Fairbanks (Dennis Farina) and social outcast Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell).

Big question: Since the film is patterned after Christopher Guest’s comedies, does it fall closer to the good ones (“Waiting for Guffman,” “Best in Show”) or the bad (“For Your Consideration”)?

Skip it: Improv comedy is always a crap shoot, which makes a tidy parallel with the world of professional gambling, but this mockumentary’s structure isn’t quite smart enough to impress. Cameras capture personal moments—family fueds, hotel couplings—without any acknowledgement that the characters are even aware they’re being filmed.

Catch it: In addition to Parnell’s freakishly believable standout work, there’s a theme of strained parent/child relationships running throughout the movie which provides especially strong material for TV vets Estelle Harris (“Seinfeld”), as Harold’s frazzled mom, and Gabe Kaplan (“Welcome Back Kotter”), as the overbearing father of Larry and Lainie.

Bottom line: Director Zak Penn isn’t quite up to Guest’s level but the highlights of “The Grand” suggest he could be someday. “The Grand” has the right cast and the right concept, it even has a satisfyingly unpredictable final showdown, but like a lot of improv comedy the jokes miss more often than they hit. It should play better down the line on cable where it’ll be a perfect fit in heavy rotation on Comedy Central or between reruns of “Celebrity Poker” on Bravo.

Bonus: Penn co-wrote “X-Men: The Last Stand” and he gives that movie’s director, Brett Ratner, a cameo role here as “Sob Story” Barry Blausteen, a player who tries to exploit his personal tragedies to throw off his opponents.

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