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"Hey! Do You
Have a Receipt for that
Dummy?" |
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Directed by David Wain -
Written by Ken Marino,
David Wain
Starring Paul Rudd,
Jessica Alba, Winona
Ryder, Adam Brody,
Gretchen Mol
Famke Janssen, Rob
Corddry, Liev Schreiber,
Oliver Platt, Justin
Theroux
Distributed by THINKFilm -
2007 - Xmins - Rated XXX |
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Richard Propes'
Review
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B- |
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Have you found yourself wondering what would have happened if the
delightfully perverse "The Aristocrats" hadn't been funny? |
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Have you possibly
wondered wondered what it would look like to see the guys from
"Jackass" actually make an attempt at sketch comedy?
Have you craved a live-action version of the marionette sex scene
from "Team America: World Police?"
Do you have a fondness for Kieslowski films and those of Mel Brooks?
If you've answered "YES!" to any of these questions, then "The Ten,"
an occasionally funny, occasionally not so funny comedy from the
comedy team "The State," may very well be the film for you.
The theme is ripe with potential in all its offensive glory. "The
Ten" could have been more outrageous than "Borat," funnier than "The
Aristocrat" and possibly even more insightful than a film such as
"Thank You For Smoking."
"The Ten," a series of ten comedy sketches built around a complete
and utter skewering of the 10 Commandments, is a hit-and-miss film
with its theme loosely adhered to and sketches that occasionally tie
themselves together even when they don't quite make sense.
Paul Rudd, who is capable of so much more than he's called on to do
here, sort of emcees the entire affair while standing next to a set
of Mel Brooks-ish (Is that even a word? It should be.) stone tablets
of the 10 Commandments. In between, we get scenes of Rudd fighting
with his wife (Famke Janssen), his girlfriend (Jessica Alba) and we
get slightly odd references to his second wife, Dianne Wiest.
Perhaps those old enough to remember the original 10 Commandments
will remember Dianne Wiest? She's a marvelous actress, but an odd
choice for contemporary comic material.
These transitions weigh down a film that is, almost despite itself,
occasionally quite funny.
Winona Ryder brings to mind the darkly comic delightfulness of some
of Christina Ricci's most delightful scenes in "Pumpkin," playing a
woman whose fiancée is piledriven into the ground following a
parachuting accident (Lesson #1: REMEMBER THE PARACHUTE), then in
another scene with the same characters she runs off with the news
reporter covering her fiancé and ends up learning that love is a
many splintered thing.
Rob Corddry, as well, camps it up with magnificent results as an
inmate who learns the hard way not to "covet thy neighbor's wife."
Then, there's the dueling neighbors who, in a scene reminiscent of a
recent Matthew Broderick/Danny DeVito film, try to outdo each other
and end up losing their families (literally) while acquiring a
houseful of CT Scan machines. This scene, while over-the-top in its
tastelessness, is dryly funny and ballsy enough to make one
appreciate it.
The film's best scene, one that practically justifies the film
itself, is that of lovely Gretchen Mol as a 35-year-old librarian
virgin who ends up on vacation losing her virginity to Jesus Christ
himself (By the way, I did mention that conservative Christians may
find this film offensive?).
From an outrageous Ryder to animated awfulness, "The Ten" is a
mishmash of occasional moments of comic brilliance followed by
head-shaking moments of nothingness. With such a delightful cast
(and you can throw in Oliver Platt, Adam Brody, Liev Schrieber,
Justin Theroux and Ron Silver), one can't help but wonder if a few
studio execs got a bit nervous about the film and spliced away its
edginess.
"The Ten" is currently on the film festival circuit and scheduled
for a limited release in August 2007. Box-office potential is
modest, however, the film should be wildly popular on DVD. |
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© Written by Richard Propes -
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TC Candler's Comment
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Jacob Hall's
Comment
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