Commandments (1997)

Seth Warner has reached the end of his rope. Ever since his wife died two years earlier, his world has been in turmoil. He is despondent, his career has fallen apart, even his house has ... See full summary »

Director:

Daniel Taplitz

Writer:

Daniel Taplitz

Stars:

Aidan Quinn, Courteney Cox, Anthony LaPaglia

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Aidan Quinn	...	Seth Warner
Courteney Cox	...	Rachel Luce
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Harry Luce
Shirl Bernheim	...	Sylvia Andrew
Peter Jacobson	...	Banker
Patrick Garner	...	Banker
Marcia DeBonis	...	Receptionist
Pamela Gray	...	Melissa Murphy
Lisa Louise Langford	...	Paramedic
Chris McGinn	...	Nurse
Louis Zorich	...	Rudy Warner
Scott Sowers	...	Detective Malhoney
Pat McNamara	...	Police Chief Warren
Jack Gilpin	...	Gordon Bloom
Amy Sedaris	...	Scholar

Storyline

Seth Warner has reached the end of his rope. Ever since his wife died two years earlier, his world has been in turmoil. He is despondent, his career has fallen apart, even his house has been destroyed. There seems to be nothing left for him to live for. Confused and angry after two years of suffering, he finally directs his wrath at God from the rooftop of his apartment building in New York City. In the midst of a wild thunderstorm he demands to know why he has been betrayed by the god he has believed in and honored his whole life. God's answer is to strike down Seth's dog in a bolt of lightning. Pushed beyond his limits, Seth decides to respond to his years of torment by breaking each of the biblical Ten Commandments. While staying with his sister-in-law, Rachel, much to the chagrin of her shifty reporter husband, Harry, he systematically sets out to break each commandment one by one. A natural at breaking commandments, Harry is drawn to Seth's mission in the hopes of using it to ...

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | reporter | hurricane | ten commandments | widower | 

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Taglines:

A comedy that breaks the rules.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexuality

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 May 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Commandements

Filming Locations:

Montauk, Long Island, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$312,438 (USA) (2 May 1997)

Gross:

$488,419 (USA) (9 May 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Northern Lights Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

DTS

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

When Rachel talks with Seth about her being betrayed by Harry, her haircut changes - in one she has some hair on her forehead, in the next take she doesn't, and then she does again.

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Quotes

Rachel Lucia: Am I a commandment to be broken?
Seth Warner: Yes.
Rachel Lucia: Is that all?
Seth Warner: No.

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Connections

References Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

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Soundtracks

"After Dark"
Written by Tito Larriva and Steven Hufsteter
Performed by Tito Larriva (as Tito) and Tarantula
Produced by Tito Larriva, Robert Rodriguez and Mark Goldenberg
Mixed by Joel Soyfter

User Reviews

Starts out great but looses it

This film was pretty good, but could have been a lot better. It starts out great with impressive flashbacks, dialogue and scenery, flattens out into an almost boring retelling of the world's oldest and most used theme: good against evil, and then suddenly lifts itself up again in the last minute with a bizarre, biblical ending that I for one have never ever seen on film before. Parts of the film are very well written indeed, the black humor is great and the characters are actually fairly human and believable. But in the long run, the film ends up just confusing and a bit unsatisfactory.