The Ten (2007)

Ten stories, each inspired by one of the ten commandments.

Director:

David Wain

Writers:

Ken Marino, David Wain

Stars:

Paul Rudd, Adam Brody, Winona Ryder

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Rudd	...	Jeff Reigert
Adam Brody	...	Stephen Montgomery
Jon Hamm	...	Skydiving Guide Chris Knarl
Winona Ryder	...	Kelly La Fonda
Ken Marino	...	Dr. Glenn Richie / Cartoon Voices
Todd Holoubek	...	Camera Man Stuart Blumberg
Mather Zickel	...	Louis La Fonda
Ali Marsh	...	'Entertainment Beat' Host George Reardon
Raisy Pereyra	...	Dorothy Sheen
Edmund Genest	...	Governor Beaumont Hutchins (as Edmond Genest)
Ron Silver	...	Fielding Barnes
Heidi Neurauter	...	Helen Campbell-Holland
Michael Ziegfeld	...	Harlan Swallow
Jason Antoon	...	Salazar 'Fred' McBairn
Andrea Rosen	...	Polly 'Carol' Samuels

Storyline

Quirky inter-related stories. Standing by two tablets, Jeff promises to introduce ten short stories, each about one of the commandments. A man survives a fall from a plane and his fiancée marries someone else before falling in love with a marionette; a surgeon causes the death of a patient and in prison tries to choose his mate; a woman encounters Jesus in Mexico and later confronts her husband on the Sabbath; twins and their mother reflect on fatherhood; covetous neighbors miss a chance to be heroes; and, between each story, Jeff's love triangle with Gretchen and Liz plays out. In the end, all the characters join in singing that it's all about love.

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Plot Keywords:

love | singing | ten stories | mexico | prison | 

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Taglines:

If He'd meant the commandments literally, He'd have written them in stone.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong crude sexual content including dialogue and nudity, and for language and some drug material

Details

Official Sites:

MySpace page

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

21 August 2008 (Russia)

Also Known As:

Das 10 Gebote Movie

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$5,250,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$121,374 (USA) (3 August 2007)

Gross:

$766,487 (USA) (28 September 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

City Lights Pictures, Inverted Film, Jade Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

There is a reporter in the "no other gods before me" story named Jim Stensel. This is the same name that Janeane Garofalo gives to David Hyde Pierce when she is unable to think of her favorite astrophysicist in Wet Hot American Summer, another project by former members of The State.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jeff Reigert: [phone rings] Hello?
Jeff Reigert: I'm sorry, I had to go, okay?
Jeff Reigert: Because I have to introduce the ten stories. I told this this before, we'll talk about this when I get home, alright? I'm late enough as it is.
Jeff Reigert: "The Ten Commandments" ten stories, alright? You knew about this when you married me, this is what I do.
Jeff Reigert: Hello? Hello? Unbelievable.

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Connections

References Eddie Murphy Delirious (1983)

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Soundtracks

"Catscan"
Written by Craig Wedren
Performed by Damian Kulash, Mark Watrous, Kyp Malone, Tunde Adebimpe (as Tunde Adibempe) & Craig Wedren

User Reviews

Not funny, not supposed to be

It's a very deceptive film, so deceptive I almost stopped watching it about 20 minutes into the film. I don't do that, I hardly ever consider the option. Lucky thing is - I stayed with it, thinking - "it's supposed to be 10 different stories, maybe some would be good." I was wrong - It's not 10 different stories it's rarely is when the same director and writers are responsible for the whole lot. But the start does look like a series of bad SNL sketches. So stupid and surreal they seem to be there for the sheer provocation value. Irreverent to the point of sacrilegious, I don't mind either as long as there's a reason for the provocation, if it's just for provocation's sake - count me out. Well in this movie there is, but only when the stories start to connect you can begin to see the "whole picture". This takes very careful and clever writing, very deftly disguised under the utter senselessness of the stories. The amazing thing is the quality performance of most actors and actresses - it's hard to do when the story is so unreal. Two points I liked less about the film - not all the stories integrate so well into the complete pattern of things, and the sign off song. Yes it's cynical and witty as required, but it's like the writers didn't trust their audience to figure it all by themselves - if they didn't they probably wouldn't be there to see the final song and even if they did I'm not sure they'd be following the lyrics closely enough. Bottom line - it's not funny, it's not trying to be funny it's satirical and thought provoking and you'll see it too if you hang in there past the first 20-30 minutes.