Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Grand




Here's one most probably haven't heard of. I saw the trailer and it looked awesome. Now that I've seen it, it doesn't disappoint whatsoever. From start to finish, it is a damn funny movie. And almost none of the comedy comes from the action or plot, but rather the dialogue, which is almost entirely improvised. a flick about a poker tournament, shot in a documentary/sport event style. Sounds like it would be boring as hell, but what made it great was the actors. 

There are some hilariously funny people in this movie, from David Cross, Richard Kind, Michael McKean, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, and Woody Harrelson. I had read about this a while back, when surfing some IMBD pages. Which is why I wasn't surprised to see that Zak Penn wrote and directed it. This dude has written some awful movies, like Last Action Hero, Inspector Gadget, the final two X-Men movies, Elektra and Fantastic 4. Quite a body of work, and somehow the dude is still allowed to write, as he's currently working on the new Incredible Hulk movie, the Avengers and a Captain America movie. If I'm a studio head I don't let this dude within typing distance. These actors saved him from himself.

If the articles about this movie I've read are correct, each scene was completely improvised. I wouldn't want to be the editor on a movie like that, but by god does it work. Even the final poker table with the six stars of the movie was just a game between the six actors. They hadn't even scripted who would win! If they had hired the wrong actors for this, the movie would have been a colossal failure, and Penn really wouldn't have ever been allowed to work again. Thankfully, that wasn't the case, and the casual dialogue actually fit into place with each character. 

My favourite character in the movie is Ray Romano, who doesn't have a very big role. But wow can this dude deliver some clever lines, and ones that built a completely realistic character. He's a stay at home dad, as his wife played by Hines is a professional poker player. He got hit by lightning, and kept his lucky hat that he was wearing at the time. While taking care of their five kids he comes up with ideas for possible inventions, like the circular beach towel, as well as what he calls, "sayings." Essentially he's takes an existinf figure of speech and just alters the elements of it. Instead of a tie in baseball being "like kissing your sister," he says it's like "peeing in your wetsuit." The dude is a goof, and for some reason, its endearing. The best scene is when he's debating what to do on the day of the big tournament with his wife, who could (and does) win $10 million at the poker tournament, because its the same day as his Yahoo Fantasy Football draft. The delivery is so natural, and so believable its perfect. 

Another great element of the movie is that David Cross finally gets a movie role that fits his talents. On television, the guy starred in Arrested Development and Mr. Show with Bob & David, two of the funniest shows ever. He also does stand up comedy, and is one of the only current comedians that are actually funny. But for some reason, whenever he gets cast in a movie role, its never fit his talent, which is quick witted, vulgar comedy. He's been in movies like She's the Man and both Men in Black movies. He shines in this movie, as an abrasive, ultra competitive player, who during his childhood was constantly put into direct competition for his fathers love and attention (and a trip to Disney Land) against his sister (Hines). The line from his father, who is also featured in the film, is "If you tell one kid that you don't love him as much, believe me, that kid is gonna try harder." The relationship between these family members is one of the things that holds the movie together between the poker games. In the end, father and son sort of reconcile, with Cross saying that he bought his father a ranch dressing factory, because he loved ranch dressing. 

It's a hilarious movie, that if you're not expecting an interesting story, you will thoroughly enjoy.

No comments: