Not Quite a 'Ten'
By Rachel Hanes, Staff Writer
September 21, 2007 | 2:22 p.m.
A film about the Ten Commandments, the rules of the Christian faith, requires serious attention, deep thought and profound sensitivity. “The Ten,” a comedy showcase of stories about the Ten Commandments, is one that lacks all three.
“The Ten” proves to be an obscure comedy, which is no surprise when considering the film’s makers and cast. David Wain (co-writer of “Wet Hot American Summer”) is both director and co-writer, alongside Ken Marino (“Reno 911!: Miami”), and he invites all of his famous friends to join in. The cast includes such names as Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder and Adam Brody, just to name a few. These and other famous faces are used to illustrate stories based on one of the most respected and feared writings in the world: the Ten Commandments.
The film opens with Jeff Reigert (Rudd), whose job entails living in an infinite abyss containing two large tablets that contain the commandments. From the very beginning, living in this abyss makes life a bit tense for Jeff and his wife. Jeff and Gretchen (Famke Janssen) fight about everything from Jeff’s job (being “that guy” who introduces ten stories about the Ten Commandments) to his affair with a younger woman (Jessica Alba). The film follows a pattern of telling a story about a commandment to continuing Jeff’s story of trying to reconcile with his wife and decide whether he wants to stay with her. Despite the turmoil, Jeff does his job and allows the audience to view all the stories illustrating each commandment.
There is one story per commandment, and each is more absurd than the one before. Some are hysterical and obvious gold from the likes of Wain. The stories of a guy who falls out of a plane (Brody); a 35-year-old virgin (Gretchen Mol, “3:10 to Yuma”), who has a sexual enlightenment in Mexico with someone special (Justin Theroux); and a prisoner (Rob Corddry, “The Daily Show”), who covets the “wife” of a fellow inmate are all stories that reek of Wain’s well-known but scarcely understood humor.
Another highlight of the film is its continuity. These are not 10 stories about completely different people who are unaffected by the others. The stories are interconnected and contain some of the same characters who are affected by the actions in other stories. For example, a prosecutor is disbarred and given the advice to become a tour guide at a local nuclear power plant. He is later seen in another story as the tour guide for a school field trip to that very plant.
Some of the stories, however, seem uncomfortable, even when taking into account these jokes and gags were illustrated by Wain’s ridiculous hand. There is more wincing than laughing when seeing Kelly LaFonda (Ryder) make love to a ventriloquist doll or during an animated orgy between STD-infested weiner dogs and other animals. The stories don't lack moments of hilarity, but there are some things people just don’t need to see.
Another void left in “The Ten” is a confirmed purpose. Trying to reach for an intelligent conclusion to this quandary may seem like diving into the shallow end of a pool, but when a filmmaker decides to tackle the Ten Commandments, there must be a purpose. The obvious answer here would seem to be that Wain and Marino are trying to not only make the audience and loyal comedic followers laugh, but to also teach them about each commandment. If this was at all their plan, then it is lost among the stories.
Each story shows the characters committing each sin against the commandments, but not all of them are punished for their sins, which would be the seemingly correct way to go about this. For instance, during “Thou Shall Not Steal,” Kelly falls in love with a ventriloquist doll and steals him from his owner and runs away with him. She ends up with the inanimate love of her life while the ventriloquist is later seen as a homeless man. This doesn't seem like justice or how something like the Ten Commandments should be shown.
But, then again, this is a film coming from the makers of “Wet Hot American Summer." Perhaps this is a shout-out to all those who live an unlived life by the Ten Commandments, telling them to let loose and have fun. That's a better and easier way to look at it, and perhaps Wain would agree.
"The Ten” is worth a view if one can understand Wain’s silly humor, overlook the plot holes and cope with the short cameos of Wain’s right-hand men, Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter. There is no doubt that Wain, Marino and the cast are more than capable of making a funny film. Where there may be doubt, however, is whether or not the mammoth Ten Commandments were too tall for them to tackle.
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Speakeasy Rating: C+
Running time: 1 hr. 35 min.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for pervasive strong crude sexual content including dialogue and nudity, and for language and some drug material.
Genre: Comedy, Politics/Religion