''10 Items or Less'' is a 2006 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written and directed by

Brad Silberling Bradley Mitchell Silberling (born September 8, 1963) is an American television director, television and film director whose credits include the feature films ''Casper (film), Casper'' (1995), ''City of Angels (film), City of Angels'' (1998), ''M ...

and starring

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

and

Paz Vega María de la Paz Campos Trigos (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series ''7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001), ...

. Shot in fifteen days, ''10 Items or Less'' made its release as a digital download – the first such release via the Internet – while it was still in theaters.

ClickStar ClickStar was a broadband movie distribution company founded by actor Morgan Freeman and film producer Lori McCreary of Revelations Entertainment. ClickStar launched on December 15, 2006 under the leadership of interim CEO James J. Ackerman and ...

, founded by

and

Lori McCreary Lori McCreary is an American film producer. She is CEO of the production company Revelations Entertainment, which she co-founded with actor Morgan Freeman. Early life McCreary grew up in Antioch, California. She graduated from Antioch High S ...

, made the film available digitally on December 15, 2006, fourteen days after its theatrical debut. This event was highlighted by the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

in their

AFI Awards 2006 The American Film Institute Awards (also known as the AFI Awards) are awards presented by the American Film Institute to recognize the top 10 films and television programs of the year. Unlike other accolades about the art form, the AFI Awards ac ...

"Moments of Significance".

Plot

Through circumstance, two strangers—an

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

preparing for an upcoming role and a

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the ...

—drive around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

together, having a number of conversations about life and exploring the differences and similarities between their worlds.

Cast

as himself *

as Scarlet *

Kumar Pallana Kumar Valavhadas Pallana (23 December 1918 – 10 October 2013) was an Indian American character actor and vaudevillian. He performed on the Mickey Mouse Club as a plate spinner and juggler. Career Pallana moved to the United States in 1946 ...

as Lee *

Jonah Hill Jonah Hill Feldstein (born December 20, 1983) is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. He is known for his comedic roles in films including ''Superbad (film), Superbad'' (2007), ''Knocked Up'' (2007), ''21 Jump Street (film), 21 Jump Stre ...

as Packy *

Anne Dudek Anne Louise Dudek (born March 22, 1975) is an American actress. She is known for portraying Tiffany Wilson in the 2004 film ''White Chicks'', Danielle Brookson in the USA Network television series ''Covert Affairs'', Dr. Amber Volakis on the Fox ...

as Lorraine *

Bobby Cannavale Roberto Michael Cannavale (; born May 3, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for various television roles, including leading roles in ''Third Watch'', ''Vinyl'', and ''Mr. Robot'', as well as recurring roles in ''Will & Grace'', which wo ...

as Bobby *

Jim Parsons James Joseph Parsons (born March 24, 1973) is an American actor. From 2007 to 2019, he played Sheldon Cooper in the CBS sitcom ''The Big Bang Theory''. He has received various awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead A ...

as Receptionist at Construction Company

Production

Revelation Entertainment produced the film, and

served as executive producer. The film was shot in fifteen days, entirely in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

and

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California Brentwood is a suburban neighborhood in the Westside region of Los Angeles. History General Modern development began after the establishment of the Pacific Branch of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors in the 1880s. A sma ...

Reception

Box office

The film was released in only fifteen theaters, taking in $35,929 in its first weekend. The total domestic box-office take was $83,291. The film was more successful internationally, grossing $1,315,931 at the international box office, with $486,895 grossed in Vega's home country of Spain.

Critical response

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

of the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'', called the film "A friendly demonstration of how two actors with charisma and a relaxed writer-director (Brad Silberling) can make a nice movie for practically nothing." In contrast,

Desson Thomson Desson Patrick Thomson is a former speechwriter for the Obama administration and former film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reuniting with his birth father. Biography ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

''wrote the film is "a good-natured but failed experiment in meeting cute -- indie-movie style". Robert Koehler of ''Variety'' wrote: " Interplay between a jaunty Freeman as an unemployed movie star and the magnetic Paz Vega as a no-nonsense grocery store checker gives pic humanity and lift." Critical reaction to the film was mixed, with general praise for the work of the two main actors. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film had a 63% approval rating based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The critics consensus reads: "A small film that relies too heavily on the charm of big actors." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

it has a score of 54% based on reviews from 20 critics.

Accolades

The film was named one of the "Top Independent Films of 2006" by the

National Board of Review The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...

Home media

The DVD was released in the U.S. on April 24, 2007. It includes audio commentary by Silberling, a featurette on 'the making of', and 6 deleted scenes.

Soundtrack

Although a soundtrack was not officially released, the following songs were included in the film: # "Rose" – Martin Blasick # "Latin Thugs" –

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

# "Las Isabeles" –

Mariachi Sol de Mexico Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, ...

# "Cancion Villista" – Ixya Herrera and Xocoyotzin Herrera # "Colorin Colorao" – Jesus Alejandro "El Niño" # "Las Perlitas" – Mariachi Aguila Real # "Con Tu Amor Y Pasion" – Sergio Cardenas # "I've Got The World On A String" – Martin Blasick # "La Receta" – Kemo the Blaxican (song at car wash) # "It's Me Jody" – Herbert Stothart # "En Este Varrio" –

Delinquent Habits Delinquent Habits is an American hip hop group, formed in Norwalk in 1991. They are known for their Latin-tinged rap, which is both melodic and hardcore. Their first album was executive produced by Cypress Hill member Sen Dog and featured gues ...

featuring

Ozomatli Ozomatli is an American rock band, formed in 1995 in Los Angeles. They are known both for their vocal activist viewpoints and incorporating a wide array of musical styles – including salsa, jazz, funk, reggae, hip hop, and others. The group ...

# "Al Pasar la Barca" –

and Morgan Freeman # "

Duncan Duncan may refer to: People * Duncan (given name), various people * Duncan (surname), various people * Clan Duncan * Justice Duncan (disambiguation) Places * Duncan Creek (disambiguation) * Duncan River (disambiguation) * Duncan Lake (d ...

" –

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

# "Let The Horn Blow" – Delinquent Habits

References

External links

* * {{Brad Silberling 2006 films 2006 independent films 2006 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Brad Silberling Films with screenplays by Brad Silberling Films set in Los Angeles Films about actors Films scored by Antônio Pinto 2000s American films English-language comedy-drama films