The Grand Previews to a Full House at Tribeca

Call it Christopher Guest with an even-more-than This is Spinal Tap edge. The Grand, a poker mockumentary starring Woody Harrelson as beyond-burned-out casino tycoon Jack Faro, previewed to a roaring, packed house on Sunday, adding a reflectively biting twist to the already hilarious, Guest-pioneered genre. Almost entirely improvised, this star-studded film has not yet found a distributor, but it has inspired side-splitting laughter with its New York audience.

An attempt to negotiate the "cosmic metaphor" of poker, The Grand follows Faro, who inherited the Lucky Rabbit's Foot Casino from his grandfather, on his quest to save his inheritance from certain demolition by billionaire Steve Lavisch (Micheal McKean). To win the $10 million he needs to buy back the casino he accidentally sold Lavisch in a drug induced haze, Faro leaves his residence in a rehabilitation clinic to enter a world-class poker championship. The catch: no one -- not even the directors of the film -- knew who was going to win the final game. As director Zak Penn explained in a short question and answer session after the screening, he actually filmed each characters' ending twice before the poker showdown because the winner had yet to be determined. The suspense added a whole new level to the format of The Grand, because the actors not only had to be skilled at improvisational comedy, they had to be keen poker players.
To save the Rabbit's Foot from Lavisch, who planned to build a ridiculous one-room hotel in its place, Faro competes with brother and sister duo Larry and Lainie Schwartzman (David Cross and Cheryl Hines); computer geek and vitamin addict Harold Melvin (Chris Parnell); shrewd and ruthless casino owner L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks (Dennis Farina); likable and cluelessly lucky amateur Andy Andrews (Richard Kind); and the wickedly loquacious German (Werner Herzog). Orbiting around this motley comedy crue are Lainie Schwartzman's husband, Fred Marsh (Ray Romano), who, after being struck by lightning, makes up handshakes for the couple's five children, plays Fantasy Football, and conceives useless inventions; Harold's mother Ruth (Estelle Harris), who loyally shakes his vitamin drinks and interrupts his conversations; and Andy's wife Sharon (Judy Greer) who reluctantly owns a ribbon store and sews her own fan sweatshirts.
A background in poker is not required to follow the ragingly funny stories of these card sharks, who, though they are competitors, seem to bond over the ultimate question of fate and chance. Like Guest's characters, they all share improbable dreams. Faro, for example, bemoans the loss of his "Fire" casino, which inevitably burned to the ground when engulfed by the themed continuous flames. Unlike Guest, however, these characters are brought into check by straight men who call them out for their zaniness. Perhaps the funniest instance of this reflection occurs between the sportscasters covering the event, the self-promoting yet athletically-ignorant Mike Werbe (Michael Karnow), and his disapproving co-host, played by Phil Gordon, who publicly taunts Werbe for his lack of poker knowledge and his shameless attempts to sell his card tip book. Viewers can't help but wonder how any of these characters -- or anyone in life for that matter -- earned their success without a little bit of both luck and destiny.

Penn, best known for writing X-Men, The Avengers, and -- apologetically -- Last Action Hero, said the laughs on the set of The Grand were endless. The DVD -- if the film ever finds a distributor - will be filled with even more of the hilarity that didn't make it past the editors, he promised. Let's hope that fate and chance work in Penn's favor.