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Surprisingly good.
A consistently amusing mockumentary with
more than enough successful observational
jokes to earn a solid recommendation.
What is lacks in sheer hilarity, it more
than makes up for in wry smiles.
As someone who has
spent much of my life in the poker
community, I am always leery of poker
movies. So often, especially since the
recent "poker boom", these types of movies
are laced with unrealistic scenes, poor
dialogue and ludicrous plots. Most
recent poker films are unintentionally funny
-- in a bad way.
However, along comes
"The Grand" -- a film that lampoons the
poker world while simultaneously having the
most realistic portrayal of the many quirky
characters found in that world. It
also is the first poker film in years to
actually show realistic hand situations.
"The Grand" isn't filled with royal flushes
and full houses. It doesn't have the
clichéd and melodramatic showdowns.
Nope -- this poker
movie shows poker for what it really is... a
boring game played by a bizarre variety of
characters.
I was particularly
impressed with the cast. They
improvised a great deal of the dialogue and
made it work 75% of the time. Sure,
there were some flat moments that tested my
patience -- but they were quickly forgotten
as we shifted to another amusing scene.
All in all, "The
Grand" represents the kind of humor found in
films like Christopher Guest's "Best in
Show" and "A Mighty Wind". If you like
that type of dry humor and have a mild
interest in the poker world... this film is
for you.
©
Written by TC Candler |
