For every scene that goes nowhere -- and there are more than a few -- there's some comedy gold lurking around the corner.

| Original Score: B | Sep 2, 2008

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.

| Apr 10, 2008

There may be too many cooks here, too many 온라인카지노추천 stars trying to make an impression in a relatively high-profile independent film, but they connect just often enough to leave you smiling.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 4, 2008

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.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 4, 2008

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.

| Apr 4, 2008

It's hard to believe that a lineup so stellar could generate so few laughs, but there it is.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Apr 3, 2008

It's obvious that The Grand's director, Zak Penn, set out to make the Best in Show of high-stakes poker, but to raise the ante, he piles up the absurdities and zany backstories.

| Original Score: C | Mar 26, 2008

There's a lot of material there in the poker world that is ripe for satire but it misses the boat here almost always.

Full Review | Mar 24, 2008

The Grand is in the grand tradition of Christopher Guest 'mockumentary' comedy satires: Its greatest asset is its eclectic, quirky-funny cast.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 21, 2008

Even if you know nothing at all about the game, you'd be hard-pressed to find better entertainment for such a modest entry fee.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 21, 2008

The 'card flick' has usually been a standard western, drama or crime deal -- that is, until a pack of mostly veteran comic actors tried their hand at improvising, Christopher Guest-style, in the highly amusing The Grand.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 21, 2008

This failure of steely intention, combined with a not quite satisfactory resolution of the fates of the characters, keeps the movie just shy of being a first-rate comedy.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 21, 2008

The sort of half-baked vanity project favored by the Tribeca Film Festival, Zak Penn's The Grand features a slew of recognizable faces in a fitfully funny improvised comedy.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Mar 21, 2008

Penn only wanted to create his world, not explore it, and failing that he axes the players as quickly as possible as though he's bored and ready for the credits

| Original Score: C+ | Mar 20, 2008

Too much of The Grand is eaten up by thin conceits that go nowhere.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Mar 20, 2008

The Grand lacks any sort of urgency or inner propulsiveness; the actors do their little goofs, then hand them off to the next, lending the jest the frolicking but ultimately monotonous quality of a game of tag.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 20, 2008

Put Herzog at the same table as Hines, Harrelson, Parnell, Cross, and Farina, and poker on film starts to look a lot less dull. Imagine what they could do with Monopoly.

Full Review | Mar 18, 2008

Zak Penn's The Grand is a seesaw, but the setting -- the high-stakes poker subculture -- is remarkably fertile and the actors are a treat.

Full Review | Mar 17, 2008

Did Zak Penn's The Grand, an improvisational comedy set in the world of poker, cast itself?

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 5, 2008

As my idol Joe Bob Briggs used to say, that's an awful lot of plot getting in the way of the story.

Full Review | Jan 7, 2008