We know the mold by know, those who’ve been paying attention. Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries (Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind) have set the template, one that Zak Penn, the writer/director behind The Grand, faithfully follows. In this case, the mockumentary formula concerns a world championship of poker players convening at the Rabbit’s Foot Hotel in Las Vegas. We get the introductions to the main players, their backgrounds, ambitions, private confessions (and, it goes without saying, idiosyncrasies and fatal flaws), as well as the “where-are-they-now?” epilogue. What makes The Grand a little different than the Guest films? Well, no Eugene Levy for one thing, among others.

Penn has developed a kind of double-edged career, one as writer/producer of big-budget action blockbusters (the X-Men movies), the other as director of a freeform fake documentary (his Incident at Loch Ness, featuring him and Werner Herzog on the disasterous documentary-in-the-making of Herzog’s search for the Loch Ness monster). With The Grand, one senses a crude, savage sense of humor, with the one-liners coming with an extra sting than what one is used to Guest’s bittersweet comedies. At its best, it’s very, very funny. One just laughs, as in the Guest pictures, at the mere sight of a certain actor (Jason Alexander, for example, as a Middle-Eastern man named Dr. Yakov Achmed in full makeup, or Dennis Farina as Deuce Fairbanks, an old codger who’s introduced on screen like straight out of Frank Miller’s Sin City, complete with comic book effects). Others, like Woody Harrelson and Chris Parnell, work for their laughs (the former’s a burnout with 74, yes 74, ex-wives, the latter a mentally-stunted man living with his mother who religiously quotes Dune).

The only two problems then – and they aren’t big problems, but they’re worth noting – is the dead air when actors who, when they pop up over and over, produce no laughs. (While it’s arguable, I’d say Ray Romano and Richard Kind get that end of the proverbial stick). In the climax, when the inevitable tournament comes down to six big players, the comedy starts to slow down as well, with only the occasional quip or look that brings a chuckle. This isn’t to say though that The Grand doesn’t provide true hilarity. Probably one of the funniest characters is Herzog as the scary German, who, as soon as he appears on screen, is a complete, unfettered riot, who delivers the iconic Herzogian quote: “It’s essential to kill something each day,” while petting a cute bunny rabbit on his lap. If only for him and some others, The Grand is worth any fan of improv comedy’s time, even as a notable, less-than-the-sum-of-its-parts achievement. Jack Gattanella
March 21, 2008