From Deseret News archives:

The Ten

'The Ten' doesn't add up

Published: Thursday, Sept. 13, 2007 3:05 p.m. MDT
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
THE TEN — ** — Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Gretchen Mol; rated R (vulgarity, profanity, sex, violence, drugs, rape, nudity, slurs, brief gore).

Three of the comic segments in "The Ten" are sort of funny. Three others are just so-so. And the remaining four are just dumb, painfully unfunny and/or downright crude.

That's not the kind of percentage filmmakers aim for, especially with something so irreverent that it's bound to upset large segments of the population.

"The Ten" is a series of interconnected skits tied thematically to the Ten Commandments, along with narration bits and wrap-around segments that star Paul Rudd as Jeff Reigert. Jeff is having strife with his spouse, Gretchen (Famke Janssen), who doesn't realize he is having an affair with a younger woman, Liz Anne (Jessica Alba). This story becomes the sequence about adultery.

Others that follow include:

• A doctor (co-screenwriter Ken Marino) who is convicted of killing a patient "as a goof."

• A lonely librarian (Gretchen Mol) who falls in love with a Mexican carpenter (Justin Theroux) she believes is Jesus.

• A celebrity impersonator (Oliver Platt) who pretends to be Arnold Schwarzenegger to help settle a parentage dispute.

Story continues below
• Materialistic neighbors (Liev Schreiber and Joe Lo Truglio) who are trying to out-accumulate each other.

• A woman (Winona Ryder) who is obsessed with a ventriloquist's dummy.

Co-screenwriter/director David Wain ("Wet Hot American Summer") has a lot of ideas, but unfortunately none worth exploring.

A scene that spoofs Woody Allen's style — right down to a joke about actress Dianne Wiest — is clever. One about a collection of male nudists who meet on Sunday is not.

"The Ten" is rated R for crude sexual humor and language (sight gags, references, strong profanity and other suggestive talk), simulated sex and other sexual contact, violence (beatings, some sexual violence and a stabbing), drug references, a scene depicting prison rape, full male nudity, slurs based on sexual preference, and some brief gore. Running time: 96 minutes.


E-mail: jeff@desnews.com

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Movie Info
Rated R for violence, brief gore, profanity, vulgarity, nudity, sex, drug use.

Cast: Jessica Alba, Adam Brody, Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Winona Ryder, Bobby Cannavale, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Rob Corddry, Kerri Kenney
FIND LOCAL MOVIE SHOWTIMES
Image
Thinkfilm

Adam Brody in a scene from the irreverent comedy, 'The Ten.'

Related content
previousnext

Latest comments

and no child should have to put up with sexual abuse. I know. I was abused...

So.. Government would run health care. Government option would keep others...

Good luck boys, take state for the south. Let it all go on the cold field....

LDS Church, BSA in abuse lawsuit

I have been involved with Scouting for over 40 years and still believe it is...

Letters: Founders not extremists

To another quiz: I just took the quiz, it is very informative. I am pretty...

MLS working toward new CBA

is long long over due...playoff between the top 8 in the league, and no silly...

That was not very good to say. Cant spell Hurricane becouse you dont live...

But did you notice Joanna did the same thing last week and still received...

MWC expand? Get rid of deadweight

Funny- Fox sports top 25 power rankings Week 11. #4 TCU #9 Boise State...

Boy, are we working hard to sell this or what? THe 45,000 homes thing is a...

Advertisements
Advertisement