The grand 2008 The Grand is an improv comedy film directed by Zak Penn. According to Penn, the film is styled after those of Christopher Guest , [2] where each actor is given direction concerning their character, and the actors are left to improvise each individual scene. The plot of The Grand was somewhat more open-ended than Guest's work, however. The focus of the film is a poker tournament played at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas between the characters in which real poker matches were played by the actors as the scenes were filmed. The film's script did not specify the winner of the tournament, and the ending of the film was determined by the actual game played on set. Jack Faro Woody Harrelson is a recovering drug addict who, after many relapses, decides to move into a rehabilitation facility full-time. Having been married 75 times, he is a serial husband and is always on the lookout for number The rest of the players "won" their seats in an online poker tournament. Other contestants include Andy Andrews Richard Kind , a math teacher, Deuce Fairbanks Dennis Farina , a wily old veteran of Vegas, and "The German" Werner Herzog , a cheater who ritualistically sacrifices small animals to gain luck at cards. The film received mixed reviews from critics. The website's critics consensus reads: " The Grand has moments of comic ingenuity, but the jokes in this poker satire often miss. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Grand Promotional poster. Release date. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 25, Works by Zak Penn. Alphas — Categories : films English-language films American films Gambling films American mockumentary films Poker films Films with screenplays by Zak Penn. Hidden categories: Template film date with 2 release dates. Namespaces Article Talk. Views Read Edit View history. Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file. Download as PDF Printable version. Promotional poster. Anchor Bay Entertainment. Comparisons: vs. A rain-delayed DVD Report this week. We didn't have any flooding, nor was there any real wind damage, but the weather was severe enough to disrupt power at times and my internet connection was not as solid as it should be making working online nearly impossible at times. It wouldn't have been too bad, but there's a massive list of releases this week, so many in fact, that I had to split the list into two. There aren't many first run releases, and nothing stands out as a must-have, or even a solid purchase. High Noon is the best of the group, but it is a double, or even triple-dip, and that costs it some points. Slow week for top-notch websites with only one film that was even in contention for the Weekly Website Award. Fortunately, Drillbit Taylor - Official Site is such a good site it could have won if it was a busy week. Hammering Home Limited Releases March 21st, Nine films on this week's list, including The Hammer , which was on last week's list as well. Hopefully it is really coming out this week, or it might be on next week's list as well. Most films are only earning average reviews, so it will be interesting to see which ones can fight through that, if any. Cast Updates - March 20, March 20th, Follow us on. Movie Website Reviews for Weekend of March 21, March 22nd, Slow week for top-notch websites with only one film that was even in contention for the Weekly Website Award. Hammering Home Limited Releases March 21st, Nine films on this week's list, including The Hammer , which was on last week's list as well. New Movie Announcements, Stars and Directors - March 18, March 18th, This week another number of upcoming movies, new stars and directors have been added to our archive! You need a Frames Capable browser to view this content. Full financial estimates for this film, including domestic and international box office, video sales, video rentals, TV and ancillary revenue are available through our research services. For more information, please contact us at research the-numbers. Samuel L. All rights reserved. March 21st, Limited by Anchor Bay Entertainment. Hits Create your own comparison chart…. Mockumentary , Gambling. Michael Karnow. Andrew Hill Newman. Robert Thompson. Lance Stockton. Forgot your password? Don't have an account? Sign up here. Already have an account? Log in here. By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and Fandango. Please enter your email address and we will email you a new password. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your account. Just leave us a message here and we will work on getting you verified. The Grand has moments of comic ingenuity, but the jokes in this poker satire often miss. Read critic reviews. Rate this movie. Oof, that was Rotten. Meh, it passed the time. So Fresh: Absolute Must See! You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket. Cinemark Coming Soon. Regal Coming Soon. By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. For every scene that goes nowhere -- and there are more than a few -- there's some comedy gold lurking around the corner. Nick Schager. Just showing us what ex-sitcom stars and Bavarian directors do in their spare time isn't quite enough to justify The Grand, which does for poker what Best in Show did for dogs while completely avoiding any jokes about poker-playing canines. John Anderson. There may be too many cooks here, too many TV stars trying to make an impression in a relatively high-profile independent film, but they connect just often enough to leave you smiling. John Hartl. You eventually get the feeling that the actors are riffing mainly for each other. Their attitude is, 'We're talented, trust us, we know how to be funny,' but in the end, it's mostly just a bluff. Walter V. 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. Brian Tallerico. It's hard to believe that a lineup so stellar could generate so few laughs, but there it is. Maureen M. Debbie Lynn Elias. David Nusair. Decided that sticking to the formula was more important than letting something organic or crazy happen. Jeffrey M. A collection of sketches does not add up to a drama in this case. Sarah Boslaugh. THE GRAND has it's funny moments, and there were some things that I laughed hard at, but it's minutes, which is much too long to be consistently funny. Austin Kennedy. The year's big dramatic gambling hit, 21, is all plot, no personality; The Grand, a comedy that follows six contenders into the finals of a poker tournament, is all personality, no plot. I'll take personality. Michael Sragow. Top Box Office. More Top Movies Trailers. Certified Fresh Picks. Black Mirror: Season 5. Into The Dark: Season 2. Lovecraft Country: Season 1. The Mandalorian: Season 1. Saturday Night Live: Season Orphan Black: Season 5. The Walking Dead: Season WandaVision: Season 1. Watchmen: Season 1. Certified Fresh Pick. View All. Black History Month. Awards Tour. Log in with Facebook. Email address. Log In. First Name. Last Name. By signing up, you agree to receiving newsletters from Rotten Tomatoes. You may later unsubscribe. Create your account Already have an account? Email Address. Real Quick. We want to hear what you have to say but need to verify your email. Please click the link below to receive your verification email. Cancel Resend Email. Add Article. Rate And Review Submit review Want to see. Super Reviewer. Rate this movie Oof, that was Rotten. What did you think of the movie? Step 2 of 2 How did you buy your ticket? Let's get your review verified. Fandango AMCTheatres. More Info. Submit By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie. How did you buy your ticket? View All Photos Movie Info. Jack Faro Woody Harrelson is the grandson of a casino legend and a former poker champ himself, until he lost it all, including the casino he inherited, to liquor and alimony. In order to win back his casino, Jack must enter the upcoming World Championship of Poker, where he will face stiff competition from famous players like Deuce Fairbanks Dennis Farina and Lainie Schwartzman Cheryl Hines. Zak Penn. Zak Penn , Matt Bierman. Nov 16, David Cross Larry Schwartzman. Dennis Farina L. Deuce Fairbanks. Cheryl Hines Lainie Schwartzman. Chris Parnell Harold Melvin. Julie Claire Dr. Jamie Sellers. Shannon Elizabeth Toni. Mike Epps Reggie Marshall. Judy Greer Sharon Andrews. Estelle Harris Ruth 'Nana' Melvin. Zak Penn Director. Zak Penn Writer. Matt Bierman Writer. Matt Bierman Executive Producer. Zak Penn Producer. Ziggy Kormandel Executive Producer. Stephen Endelman Original Music. Anthony Hardwick Cinematographer. Abby Schwarzwalder Film Editor. Shepherd Frankel Production Design. September 2, Rating: B Full Review…. April 10, Full Review…. April 4, Rating: 2. April 4, Full Review…. November 6, Full Review…. June 8, Rating: 2. November 19, Rating: 2. April 11, Rating: B-. View All Critic Reviews May 29, It felt as if they were trying to achieve a "Best in Show" type movie, but it didn't get there for me. The cast was very talented and there were some funny scenes, but it was just kind of stagnant. Sarah P Super Reviewer. Sep 10, Larry Schwartzman: If people played correctly, I would win every single hand, ever. There should be a disclaimer on this film though stating something to the effect of, if you don't know a lot about poker, don't watch it. You should follow that disclaimer. If you know absolutely nothing about it; you've never played or watched it, you won't like this movie. End of story. You'll view this mockumentary as just a stupid, pointless, unfunny film. But if you know and love poker, you will get every joke and you'll adore this film. Everything has its little "in" stuff. Poker has many, and this film plays on them very well. Some stuff the comedy plays on are obvious jokes about glasses or costumes. It's also a nice little parody of the World Series of Poker. There's a lot of jokes about the commentators. The little interviews are an over the top parody of the interviews you'll see on tv, and their actually quite well done. The characters are the best parodies though. My favorite character was Larry Schwartzman played by David Cross. His character is the poker player who goes nuts about other players beating him when they shouldn't have been in the hand. So basically The Grand is a Christopher Guest like mockumentary that uses poker as its subject. It's a great setting for a mockumentary, which is the most important aspect when making one. If you're setting is off, it's just not going to work. All the good ones like Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman chose a setting that few people were actually familiar with and made a joke out of it. The only thing that The Grand lacks that those comedies had, was appealing to people who aren't familiar with the setting. You don't have to be a dog person to find Best in Show hilarious, but you kind of have to be a poker person to find The Grand hilarious. I guess that would be my one huge critique of The Grand. Not appealing to a large audience. There's a great cast in this one and some great cameos as well. Known "poker players" Jason Alexander and Ray Romano are in there. Woody Harrelson is in the lead as One Eyed Jack. He's trying to win the tournament in order to save the Rabbit's Foot Casino, which he took control of after his grandfathers death. Standouts for me were David Cross, who I already talked about and Chris Parnell, who plays a poker genius that isn't socially savvy. In the end, you should know wether your going to like this one or not from the start. If jokes about poker superstitions, egos, and playing styles doesn't immediately make you want to watch it; it is probably a film you should skip. If that strikes you as something you must watch, then you'll probably like it as I did. I know this isn't an amazing comedy, but it is one that knows how to appeal to its base, even if it doesn't know how to appeal to anyone else. Good thing I'm in that base. Melvin W Super Reviewer. Oct 18, Hilarious Hilarious movie!!! Brody M Super Reviewer. Mar 13, But he is going to have some very tough competition. Lainie Schwartzman Cheryl Hines is so good, she has earned enough money for her children's college education, and provides the rooting interest by being from Long Island. Yes kids, there really is a Massapequa. Her brother Larry David Cross does his best to keep up. Harold Melvin is an idiot savant who has seen "Dune" way too many times. Andy Andrews Richard Kind is an amateur player from Wisconsin who gained entry through a web site. Since I usually have something better to do than watch one which reminds me, "Dollhouse" is on tonight , I cannot consider myself an expert by any means. Regardless, its shots at unctuous commentators and trying to fit people into neat boxes feel like they hit the target. There are some real life people playing themselves which helps the atmosphere and some familiar faces in cameos which does not. Otherwise, the characterizations are hit and miss. While David Cross proves to be an eternal source of annoyance, Werner Herzog is a delight, exploiting his perceived insanity for laughs. Larry and Lainie suffer under the thumb of a manipulative father Gabe Kaplan?!? Harold has a clinging mother Estelle Harris. And Deuce is nostalgic for the good old days when you could shoot somebody and dump the body in the desert without anybody complaining. Walter M Super Reviewer. See all Audience reviews. There are no approved quotes yet for this movie. Best Horror Movies. Marvel Movies In Order. Best Netflix Series and Shows. Go back. More trailers. Resident Alien. No Score Yet. Name That Tune. Nancy Drew. For Life. Tough as Nails. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. Jimmy Kimmel Live. Late Night With Seth Meyers. The Sinner. Behind Her Eyes. Tribes of Europa. Tell Me Your Secrets. It's a Sin. The Expanse. For All Mankind. Check out some of the most anticipated TV series revivals, live-action movie adaptations, and remakes currently in the works. Browse our picks. Visit our Black History Month section. Search for " The Grand " on Amazon. An improvisational comedy using a handful of actors playing characters competing in an actual poker tournament. The movie starts fairly strong, and I was honestly hoping that it would keep up the humor, but it did not. Which is a shame. Interestingly, what does not work in this film is the poker. They dealt the cards and the actors played in character and the results were up to fate. Very interesting idea. Unfortunately, that did not carry to the movie. There was almost no excitement or tension to the poker tournament, perhaps because it is impossible to build tension in the results of a game when that game is severely edited. I hate to say it, but this film is less exciting and less entertaining than an episode Bravo's "Celebrity Poker. Unfortunately, it isn't. I hold no grudge against the filmmaker for taking a direct copy of the Christopher Guest play book and running with it. I only wish he'd been more successful so that I could have laughed more than infrequently. Hopefully this movie's failure will not discourage others from using this formula. I would love to have more comedies in this style. It is not like Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy are the only two people alive who can come up with a concept for a mockumentary. It should be very funny and entertaining. Unfortunately, it is not. Sign In. Get a sneak peek of the new version of this page. Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Full Cast and Crew. Release Dates. Official Sites. Company Credits. Technical Specs. Plot Summary. Plot Keywords. Parents Guide. External Sites. User Reviews. User Ratings. External Reviews. Metacritic Reviews. Photo Gallery. Trailers and Videos. Crazy Credits. Alternate Versions. Rate This. Director: Zak Penn. Writers: Zak Penn , Matt Bierman. Watch on Prime Video included with Prime. Added to Watchlist. From metacritic. Celebrate Black History Month. Sunday Movies. Gambling in Movies and Series! Related Items. Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Edit Cast Cast overview, first billed only: Woody Harrelson Larry Schwartzman Dennis Farina Lainie Schwartzman Richard Kind Andy Andrews Chris Parnell Harold Melvin Werner Herzog The German Jason Alexander Yakov Achmed Ray Romano Fred Marsh Mike Epps Reggie Marshall Judy Greer Sharon Andrews Ga kenmore dryer thermostat wiring diagram chrysler pacifica 2006 guitar speaker cabinet wiring diagrams be Kaplan Seth Schwartzman Michael Karnow Mike Werbe Michael McKean Steve Lavisch Julie Claire Edit Storyline An improvisational comedy using a handful of actors playing characters competing in an actual poker tournament. Taglines: A comedy about the fine art of losing. Genres: Comedy. Edit Did You Know? Trivia The script was barely twenty-nine pages long. Co-Writer and Director Zak Penn had the actors and actresses improvise. Goofs When the 6 players start the last round, they have Later on during the minute break they have Quotes Billionaire Steve Lavisch : I myself despise nostalgia, because it's so old. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this. Add the first question. Language: English. Runtime: min. Sound Mix: Dolby Digital. Color: Color. Edit page. Clear your history. One Eyed Jack Faro. Larry Schwartzman. LBJ 'Deuce' Fairbanks. Lainie Schwartzman. Andy Andrews. Harold Melvin. Yakov Achmed. Reggie Marshall. Sharon Andrews. Seth Schwartzman. Steve Lavisch. Jamie Sellers.