The Ten

[dan]

I saw this at the nearest independent theater, The Nickelodeon in Columbia. It was a pretty cool place, I really wish it was closer, I can't justify driving an hour and fifteen minutes just to see a movie.

However, with The Ten, it was worth it. It's by David Wain, the guy behind Wet Hot American Summer, and it stars pretty much everybody from the very insular group that once comprised The State, then split off into Stella and some of the cast of Reno: 911.

The film is comprised of ten short "sketches" very (sometimes VERY) loosely based on the Ten Commandments. Each sketch is introduced by a narrator, Paul Rudd, who ends up involved in one of the sketches as well. All of the stories are self-contained, but there are many very clever ties between each story.

As with any sketch-oriented movie, some parts are brilliant, and some parts not so much. The commandment on coveting thy neighbor's goods is probably the best one, it's about two suburban neighbors (Liev Schrieber and Joe Lo Truglio) who keep buying CAT scan machines to try and one-up the other. It sounds stupid, I know. And it is, but it's still funny.

The biggest complaint from critics seems to be that the film has nothing to say about the Ten Commandments or the nature of religion, but that's a little ridiculous. The filmmakers' sensibilities give no indication that they had any desire to make a statement with their film, and to expect that is like expecting Happy Gilmore to teach you how to play golf.

Regardless, it was great. I'm biased, I admit, but I laughed my ass off the whole time, and it was very original, no small feat for a comedy these days. There were so many jokes that I didn't get until a few hours later, jokes unlike any I've ever seen before. You gotta respect that.

That said, the movie obviously makes a lot of jokes at the expense of certain aspects of Christianity, and there are some very adult situations involved (Winona Ryder has a very passionate sex scene with a ventriloquist's dummy), so it's not for the easily offended.

Speaking of Winona Ryder, she really impressed me in this movie. It takes a certain kind of acting to pull off a movie like this, and she hit every note perfectly, even in scenes that are just about as ridiculous as anything I've ever seen in a movie. Kudos to her.

Overall, three and a half stars out of four. I hesitate to give it four stars, only because Wet Hot American Summer is in my top 3 movies ever, and this naturally couldn't compare to that, but it's good. It'll be on DVD soon, check it out.....

Also, this is one of my favorite trailers ever!
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PS: This movie confirmed to me that Jessica Alba is one of the worst famous actresses out there today. It was like she was in a whole different movie, I'm glad she was only in it for like 2 minutes.