Movie Review The Grand

The Grand (2008) 

Directed by Zak Penn

Written by Zak Penn

Starring Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Richard Kind, Woody Harrelson, Ray Romano 

Release Date March 21st, 2008 

Published May 5th, 2008 

Zak Penn crafted the detailed and clever scripts for the X-Men flick directed by Brett Ratner. A comic book nut, Penn was in his element and will hopefully show the same talent in his script for the upcoming Incredible Hulk redux. Moving into the realm of directing, his talent seems somewhat less pronounced. The new comedy The Grand features an exceptional comic cast but too often feels like something Christopher Guest thought of and cast aside.

The Grand is a mockumentary that follows the progress of several different players in a 10 million dollar Las Vegas poker tournament called The Grand. Jack Faro (Woody Harrelson) is a legend on the Vegas Strip. Not for his card playing or the fact that he owns a casino, the Rabbit's Foot, but rather for his copious consumption of drugs and alcohol.

Oh and I neglect to mention Jack's 75 ex-wives. Sprung free from a two year stint in rehab, Jack needs 7 million dollars or he loses his casino to mogul Steve Lavish, an eccentric billionaire played by Chris Guest regular Michael McKean.

Facing off with Jack in the tournament are a collection of veterans, sharks and internet novices with their own unique histories and agendas. Lainie Schwartzman (Cheryl Hines) is a champion player looking to win The Grand for the first time. With her nebbish husband Fred (Ray Romano) and their three kids in tow, Lainie is a favorite to win. As is Lainie's brother Larry (David Cross). Though Lainie has more often than not beaten her brother, he remains a top player. Together they have weathered the creepy, intense competitiveness of their father (Gabe "Mr. Kotter" Kaplan) that has left them both a little emotionally crippled but great card players.

Then there are the legends. Dennis Farina looks every bit the Vegas veteran who longs for the days when mobsters busted knee caps and poker victories came with complimentary hookers. His old friend, The German (Werner Herzog, yes THE Werner Herzog) is an equally ruthless player who travels with a cadre of small animals, one of which he murders everyday to keep his instincts sharp. The wildcards in this multi-million dollar tourney are an internet poker amateur named Andy Andrews (Richard Kind) and a socially inert savant named Harold (Chris Parnell).

6 of these players will be at the final table playing for the big prize and we are told by director Zak Penn that the game being played is for real. The Grand is credited as written by Penn and pal Matt Bierman but according to Penn the actors improvised all of their dialogue based on character sketches and a barebones plot. The final card game is in fact a real game with the outcome determined by actual hands of cards between the actors. Each of the actors then delivers on whatever is expected of their character according to what the cards do for them. It's a unique idea and lends a bit of suspense to scenes that could have been quite predictable.

Other than that final hand however, The Grand remains nothing more than a clone of Christopher Guest only slightly more subdued. A talented crew of comics and actors fumble their way toward jokes, occasionally finding them, more often earning a laugh for the fumble as for the found humor. The Grand isn't bad really. The actors are fun and the poker setting is strong even as the competitive poker trend ticks down its 15 minutes of fame. I can give it a partial recommendation on the strength of a really good cast but keep your bets low on this hand.

Movie Review RV

RV (2006) 

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by Geoff Rodkey 

Starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Chenoweth, Josh Hutcherson

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published April 28th, 2006 

Robin Williams stopped being cool around the time he cleaned up and got off drugs. That is a horrible thing to say but it's true, his maniac comic genius was fueled by cocaine and though at times it was too far out it was often remarkably, vibrantly, brilliant and he has only rarely captured that brilliance since getting cleaned up.

I'm glad he got off drugs, it saved his life. And that maniac part of Williams is still there occasionally, especially in his most recent comedy special on HBO in 2003. In movies those occasions of Wiliams' brilliance have become few and far between. Reduced now to the neutered family comedy genre like his once brilliant colleague Eddie Murphy, Williams stars in R.V, a mainstream machine meant to convert safe forced comic melodrama into cash.

In R.V Williams stars as Bob Munro, father to two ungrateful kids, daughter Cassie (JoJo Levesque) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) and husband to a loving stay at home wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines). Sad that his family has grown so far apart that they watch TV in four different rooms and I.M each other that dinner is ready. He launches a plan to bring the family close again.

Canceling a planned vacation in Hawaii, Bob puts the vacation funds into renting an R.V for a cross country family camping trip. What Bob doesn't mention to the family is that part of the trip includes a stop in Colorado for a business meeting.

If you guessed that along the way the family reconnects, lessons are learned and hugs shared, congratulations, you've seen a movie before. Predictable doesn't begin to describe the plot of R.V. Golly do you think Bob's secret business meeting will drive a wedge in the family? Do you think that maybe that weirdo family headed up by the mugging duo of Jeff Daniels and Kristen Chenoweth will turn out to be good people and great friends?

Garsh!

Director Barry Sonnenfeld has hit a rather unexpected career low. After Get Shorty and two pretty good Men In Black movies, Sonnenfeld seemed to have a golden touch. However, having been away from directing since the last Men In Black film, Sonnenfeld's golden touch has turned to lead. Lead that Sonnenfeld and Williams use to pound home every predictable slapstick joke.

As much as I dislike R.V I must admit to a few laughs all of which come from Williams whose hard work does occasionally wring laughs from this lame script. That hint of mania behind William's eyes is still there and when he isn't suppressing it in an ill-fitting dyspeptic character like Bob, he can't help but let loose a few non-sequiturs. Robin Williams is a comic genius. That madness is still there just below the surface. That madness that makes him a brilliant, at times uncontrollable comic whirling dervish, still simmers inside him. Movies like R.V do not bring out his best side but when he finds the right project he will back.