Review of The Grand (2007) by Nick R — 11 Jun 2008

Mini-reviews of recently released DVDs....

[b]The Grand (2007) - 4.3/10[/b].

Director - Zak Penn.

Starring - Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Chris Parnell, Richard Kind, Werner Herzog, Ray Romano, Gabe Kaplan.

Anyone who has watched or played poker probably knows there is potential for a very funny film about the subject. [i]The Grand [/i]attempts to tackle the subject of professional gamblers with this mockumentary of a high stakes poker tournament. It's definitely a hit-and-miss affair that needed a more skilled director (and writer) to pull it off.

[b]The Bucket List (2007) - 5.4/10[/b].

Director - Rob Reiner.

Starring - Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Alfonso Freeman, Rob Morrow.

Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman star as terminally-ill cancer patients who decide to live the rest of their days to the fullest. Edward Cole (Nicholson) is a corporate billionaire who runs the hospital he's a patient at. Because of his "2 to a room" policy, he winds up next to Carter Chambers (Freeman) a mechanic who had to put personal dreams aside to raise a family. They become unlikely friends and vow to complete the "Bucket List" before they die.

[i]The Bucket List[/i] should be deemed a failure consideringthe talent involved but it was about what I expected. It's predictable without being too offensive, in other words a "safe" Hollywood comedy about two men dying of cancer. It could have (and should have) dug deeper but it would have been to depressing for general audiences and Hollywood wasn't going to bypass a chance to bank with two of it's most marketable elder statesmen.

[b]Funny Games (2008) - 6.4/10[/b].

Director - Michael Haneke.

Starring - Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet, Devon Gearhart.

Tim Roth and Naomi Watts star as George and Anna Farber, an upper-middle class couple spending a weekend with son Georgie (Devon Gearhart) at their vacation home. While George and Georgie are out on the boat, a preppy young man Paul (Michael Pitt) asks Anna if he can borrow some eggs for a neighbor. When Paul "drops" the eggs, the funny games begin. His buddy Peter (Brady Corbet) appears and soon the two begin torturing the family as some warped form of self-enertainment.

A remake of a foreign film I never saw, [i]Funny Games [/i]aims to shock and exploit, and for the most part it succeeds. It's extremely dark and disturbing, almost a satire of screen violence and Michael Pitt in particular gives a creepy performance as a polite and well-educated young man with a crazed mean streak. Naomi Watts is also quite good. Although this film did make me quite uncomfortable I found it pretty engaging and certainly smarter than most horror flicks I've seen.