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Sony Pictures presents The Ten. 91 minutes. Written by David Wain and Ken Marino. Rated R for pervasive strong crude sexual content including dialogue and nudity, and for language and some drug material.
Directed By:
David Wain
Cast:
Jessica Alba……….Liz Anne Blazer
Adam Brody……….Stephen Montgomery
Famke Janssen……….Gretchen Reigert
Kerri Kenney……….Bernice
Ken Marino……….Dr. Glenn Richie
A.D. Miles……….Oliver Jennings
Gretchen Mol……….Gloria Jennings
Oliver Platt……….Marc Jacobson
Paul Rudd……….Jeff Reigert
Winona Ryder……….Kelly LaFonda
Liev Schreiber……….Ray Johnson
Ron Silver……….Fielding Barnes
Justin Theroux……….Jesus H. Christ
Joe Lo Truglio……….Paul Mardino
Michael Ian Black……….Prison Guard Jamberg Saivon
Michael Showalter……….Police Lt. Flarn Bleern
The Film:
The Christian Coalition was all up in arms about the anti-religious ideas in The Golden Compass. The people that complained about that film obviously didn’t see The Ten. They didn’t see Jesus (Theroux) being less than holy, Wynona Ryder having sex with a ventriloquist puppet or the other 8 other sacrilegious stories that make up this film.
Coming from the minds of David Wain and Ken Marino, these ten shorts tell tales of the Ten Commandments with Paul Rudd guiding us through them all and having problems of his own. He’s married to Famke Jansen but is having an affair Jessica Alba. This drama plays around the shorts, some of which tie in together, most of which don’t.
From the most part this film is hilarious, although some shorts are better than others and not all of them deliver. The highlights include the above-mentioned Jesus having a passionate affair with Gretchen Mole and Ryder’s affair with the puppet. Also, Liev Schreiber and Joe Lo Truglio are neighbors in a CAT scan machine buying contest, Ken Marino wanting be somebody else’s bitch in prison and Ken Marino going to prison for putting scissors in a patient after surgery as a goof. Oddly, the bit that doesn’t really work at all is the animated one. It’s not funny and it sticks out like a sore thumb.
The performances across the board are hilarious. Wynona Ryder really needs to do more comedy because she is pure gold here. Most of the humor is very dry and played off straight. The scenarios are all so ridiculous that the straight acting really makes the whole thing work.
Sure, this film isn’t for everyone. In fact, many people will simply be offended and not find any of it funny. But this wasn’t made for those people. This film was made for people who enjoy off color humor and can laugh and things that shouldn’t be laughed at.
The DVD:
This film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. Sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround.
Extras:
Audio Commentary with David Wain, Ken Marino, Paul Rudd, David’s Parents and some smooth Jazz: This is a fantastic commentary. Not only are Wain, Marino and Rudd both hilarious and informative, but they are backed by some sweet stand up bass that really adds to the mood. Some times they break into improvised jazz to break up the monotony and we get David’s parent’s real thoughts on the film; which parts they like and which parts they don’t like.
Alternate Takes, Deleted Scenes and Bloopers: Right here you get almost an hour of some of the funniest extras ever seen on a DVD. At times they are even funnier than the movie. It makes you wonder why they left some of this stuff out.
Interview with David Wain, Paul Rudd and Ken Marino This is a really funny interview. You can tell the interviewer is really struggling to keep everything on track because these guys keep going off on all sorts of tangents.
An episode of Wainy Days: This is an episode of David Wain’s on line show. It’s pretty funny but just feels like a commercial to get people to watch his show which is kind of cheap.
The Making Of The Ten: This is the worst feature on the disc. It’s just a disorganized montage of behind-the-scenes footage that isn’t all that memorable.
The Inside Pulse
This a great collection of short stories all based on the Ten Commandments. Fans of The State and Stella will absolutely love this and so will some other people I’m sure. It’s not for everyone, certainly not for very religious people. But hey, you can’t please everyone.
