Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

Aubrey Hackett While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

hall895 The Grand is an improvisational comedy which ultimately is a letdown because it simply is not funny enough. There are some talented performers here who you would think might be able to make something like this work but it never really comes together. The movie has its moments but even at its best it is never really laugh out loud funny. And for whatever moments there might be which kind of work there are many more moments which just don't work at all. Doing improv can be like walking a high wire without a net. And this movie more or less falls off that high wire and goes splat.The movie centers around a major, $10 million winner-take-all poker tournament and the eclectic, eccentric cast of characters chasing the big prize. Unfortunately most of these characters are probably a little too eccentric to be taken seriously. Then again this is not really a movie meant to be taken seriously, it's meant to make you laugh. A shame then that it fails at that too. There may be some mild chuckles here and there but the movie never hits any great comedic heights. Among the performers David Cross is the only one who really stands out. He's actually very good. Everyone else ranges from mediocre to total dud. Woody Harrelson's the purported star of the movie and he's rather lifeless although to be fair it almost has to be that way for the character he's playing. Richard Kind, playing a poker novice, is moderately amusing but none of the other major players in the tournament bring much to the table. And some of the supporting performances are terribly disappointing. Michael McKean's character is eccentric to the point of stupidity. It doesn't work at all. Ray Romano has probably never in his life been as desperately unfunny as he is in this movie. Gabe Kaplan is incredibly dull. And poker commentator Mike Werbe, played by Michael Karnow, is an impossibly annoying abomination. Every time he opens his mouth you want to reach inside the screen and slap him. And, while a novel concept, improvising the poker poses a major problem as well. Because if the actors play stupidly your big finish will not ring true to any serious poker player and it will ultimately doom the movie to failure. And never underestimate the ability of actors to play poker stupidly. Let's just say it ends up being a little difficult to believe in some of these characters as professional poker players after actually watching them play. Although to be fair by the time we get to the end the movie was probably doomed to failure anyway no matter how the poker played out. This movie was an interesting idea which unfortunately was not executed well at all.

pepekwa a comedy-poker film immediately sounds like a flop but this delivers and has some genuinely funny moments. There's a great cast here and some great cameos to boot, David cross and chris parnell, perhaps two of the lesser-known "stars" had me in stitches at times. You can easily enjoy the movie with no knowledge of poker but Hold-em players will appreciate some of the intricacies on the tables and some cameos from poker greats with some scenes unashamedly hamming up ESPN"s World series of poker coverage. There's great chemistry between all the leads which is what you would expect from good actors but Zak penn deserves credit for making a good film and should do more work behind the camera on this evidence.

rsoonsa "The Grand Championship of Poker", held at the Golden Nugget Hotel in Las Vegas, furnishes the backdrop for this cleverly constructed mockumentary that will please aficionados of the card game, although viewers not conversant with the rules of poker will understandably be more interested in the personalities involved, thanks to the able leadership of director Zak Penn, who provides his cast with only a briefly outlined scenario from which to work. This, then, is primarily an improvisational work, with the actors representing actual well-known poker tournament contestants, all the while not themselves knowing the film's outcome, since they are engaged in ongoing competition with highly proficient professionals, contending for a winner-take-all prize of $10 million. Resourceful editing is the determinant to success for an episodic affair of this sort, and that duty is capably handled by Abby Schwarzwalder, being of particular value during the production's earlier segments, when a wide range of defined character types is created by director Penn. The film loses much of its impact during its lattermost sequences as a result of poker jargon being extensively utilized, and probably not comprehensible to a good many viewers. The Anchor Bay DVD release enjoys outstanding audio and visual quality and offers a liberal number of interesting extra features. These include: a brace of alternate endings; some truly comedic deleted scenes that have optional commentary by Penn, writer/executive producer Matt Bierman, and actor Michael Karnow; "Wild Cards" - a goodly amount of footage that profiles major players along with some cameo roles; a full-length audio commentary with Penn, Bierman and Karnow, marked by the director's efforts to keep the other two focused upon the film; and a large group of selected scene commentaries with Penn and Woody Harrelson, in addition to one with the director and players Cheryl Hines and Ray Romano. From among a large collection of talented performers we may enjoy some excellent turns, acting honours going to Chris Parnell as a social misfit who is also a genius at poker. These extras, taken together, will comprise the principal reason for a majority of those who are not fans of poker playing to acquire this work, their entertainment value offsetting any constraints caused by a self-destructing effect fashioned from the game's usage of poker nomenclature, a failing that will leave many viewers adrift.

wielebny If you like and have played Texas hold 'em, you will find this movie entertaining as s**t ;] and you will rate it 9/10.I like and have played Texas hold 'em......don't know why rated it 8/10.To kick few more lines for getting my review posted I also say that even if you haven't played Texas Hold 'em, you won't regret watching this film. The joke is often hidden in real game situations, but besides that the rest is fun too. What else could I possibly say ? Take a beer with you ;]Enjoy ;]