The Grand is a 2007 poker mockumentary, written by Zak Penn and Matt Bierman. Something tells me that if this movie were released today, there’d be a lot of criticism coming at it from all sides, but 2007 (as sunny as it sounds) was a different time, and people weren’t as easily offended by comedy.
The plot of the movie revolves around a big poker tournament, aptly named The Grand, in which the winner gets $10,000,000. Everybody else gets nothing. The tournament takes place at Rabbit’s Foot Casino in Las Vegas, owned by One Eyed Jack Faro (Harrelson).
Jack inherited the casino from his grandfather, and due to numerous bad decisions, he is about to lose Rabbit’s Foot. The only way he can come up with the money to save the place is by playing in the tournament himself.
The tournament itself isn’t really that important in this movie, though. It is a setting through which we get to know several characters in addition to Faro. All of them are caricatures of sorts, mocking certain poker players’ habits and behaviors, and that’s what The Grand is all about.
The movie makes fun of the poker boom during the second half of the 2000s, but not in a bad way. It is trying to portray the diversity of people who were attracted to the game during that period by creating certain archetypes.
There is The German, a cold-blooded old-school gambler who has zero respect for money and only plays for the thrill. Larry and Lannie Schwartzman are siblings who both play poker professionally and are overly competitive due to their upbringing.
Andy Andrews is (seemingly) a player who has no idea what’s going on, who qualified for The Grand via an online satellite by accident. Harold is a socially awkward, barely functioning human being, but he is very good at math. ‘Deuce’ is another old-school player who is more of a feel gambler and who has the respect of the crowd.
Those familiar with the biggest names in poker during that period will likely recognize that some of these imaginary players match characteristics of actual stars of the time. I will name no names, but it’s really not that hard to figure it out.
Core The Grand Movie Details & Rating
- Title: The Grand
- Year: 2007
- Director: Zak Penn
- Main Cast: Woody Harrelson, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind, Ray Romano
- Poker player cameos: Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Laak, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Gordon
- Genre: Mockumentary
- Duration: 104 min
- Overall Score: 8/10
| Criteria | Score (1-10) | Reviewer note |
| Poker Realism | 7.5/10 | For a movie that focuses on the funny above all else, poker scenes in The Grand are unexpectedly realistic. |
| Story & Writing | 7/10 | The story itself is so-so, but, unlike in most movies, the story in this one is actually secondary. |
| Acting & Characters | 8.5/10 | Characters are actually the best part of The Grand, and they’re pretty awesome. |
| Poker Excitement Factor | 7.5/10 | There are a few interesting and exciting moments – nothing over the top, but enough to keep things exciting. |
| Entertainment value | 8/10 | While The Grand is by no means a perfect movie, it will entertain you and make you laugh. |
What We Loved About The Grand
At the time it came out, The Grand received mixed reviews from critics and the audience. I’ll admit that it’s been a while since I last saw this poker movie, but watching it in 2025, I’ve had some good laughs.
The movie does a good job of describing the colorfulness of the poker scene that was created following 2003 Chris Moneymaker’s triumph in the World Series of Poker. It does so in a funny, maybe even a somewhat brutal way at times, but that’s the whole point.
From socially awkward (but extremely smart) kids who all of a sudden had a good reason to step out of their darkened bedrooms, over hardened gamblers who are having a hard time catching up with the new reality, to average Joes, everyone wanted their piece of poker glory.
The Grand goes a step further in mocking things. During the tournament, the action is announced and commented on by Phil Gordon and his co-host Mike Werbe.
It’s normal for poker commentators to have a bit of banter to keep things entertaining, but The Grand takes this dynamic to the extreme, portraying Werbe as a complete dummy who spends the entire time trying to promote his useless book on poker that provides no real advice.
It’s easy enough to criticize The Grand for this and that, but maybe you’ll change your mind when you find out that a majority of dialogue and action was improvised on the spot. Actors were given a bit of info on their characters and were then left to their own devices.
This may well be the reason why some of the comments seem a bit too much and why some conversations in the movie feel genuine. They just had to come up with things on the spot, and that doesn’t leave too much time for filters.
The Grand may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but if you watch it with an open mind and take it for what it is, which is a feel-good comedy, you’ll enjoy it.
Shortcomings
It would be easy to nitpick at this movie and find a bunch of things wrong with it. You’ll come across many small inaccuracies, such as Gordon’s commentary in a hand featuring The German and Faro. The board is paired, with four diamonds, and after Faro tables K♦Q♦, Gordon says that The German can only win with one card, the ace of diamonds.
This is technically incorrect, as there are several full houses he could have in this spot, and this could have easily been avoided by putting any other card on the turn except board-pairing deuce. But mistakes happen, especially in this type of setup.
The movie is full of clichés, of course, and in some other film, it would be a bad thing, but not in The Grand. This movie is one big ball of clichés, multiplied by a hundred, and that’s what makes it so funny at times.
The story is perhaps the weakest aspect of the entire picture, as it feels more like an afterthought than something you’d actually care about. While Jack is on the mission to preserve his grandfather’s legacy, there isn’t really enough to the story to make you root for him to succeed.
Then again, that might be the whole point, as the appearance of Jack’s grandfather’s ghost near the end of the movie explains that this isn’t something worth worrying about. It was his passion, but he’s now gone, and Jack is a different person who needs to find his own thing.
Final Verdict
You want a poker movie that will make you laugh? Go ahead and watch The Grand. You’ll especially like it if you belong to an older generation of poker fans, as you’ll be able to pick up references to certain big names of the period.
Plus, there are cameo appearances from a bunch of pros, including late Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, and many more.
Is this the best poker movie ever made? Certainly not – but it is very unique and easily the funniest one I’ve seen.
Overall score: 8/10
