''The Ten'' is a 2007
anthology comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
David Wain and cowritten by Wain and
Ken Marino
Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as '' Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', '' Burning Love'', and '' Chil ...
. It was released through
ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007. The
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
was released on January 15, 2008. It is an international co-production between the United States and Mexico.
Plot
Ten stories, each inspired by one of the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
:
;1 "Thou Shalt Worship No God Before Me"
A man (
Adam Brody) becomes a celebrity after falling out of a plane and becoming permanently embedded in the ground, thanks to a superstar agent (
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Acto ...
). After a swift rise to stardom, he becomes prideful and arrogant, referring to himself as a god. His career falls apart and he loses everything. His fiancée (
Winona Ryder
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
) leaves him for a TV anchor man.
;2 "Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain"
A librarian (
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ( ...
) has a sexual awakening in Mexico with a swarthy local (
Justin Theroux
Justin Paul Theroux (; born August 10, 1971) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) and the thriller film ''Inland Empire'' (2006). He also ...
) who turns out to be
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. She eventually settles down and marries her coworker (
A. D. Miles), but is secretly reminded of her fling with Jesus whenever her family prays before a meal.
;3 "Thou Shalt Not Murder"
A doctor (
Ken Marino
Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as '' Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', '' Burning Love'', and '' Chil ...
) kills his patient by leaving a pair of scissors inside her abdomen during surgery. Despite expecting the charges to be dropped because he left the scissors in "as a goof", the judge and jury sentence him to
life in prison
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...
. The judge also disbars the plaintiff's lawyer, who is then told that he should consider a job as a tour guide at the local nuclear plant.
;4 "Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father"
A white mother (
Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...
) enlists an
Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator (
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
) to be a father figure to her black children after telling them he is their biological father. It is revealed that their father is in reality
Arsenio Hall
Arsenio Hall (born February 12, 1956) is an American comedian, actor and talk show host. He hosted the late-night talk show, ''The Arsenio Hall Show'', from 1989 until 1994, and again from 2013 to 2014.
He has appeared in ''Martial Law'', '' Com ...
, but they decide to keep the Arnold impersonator as part of the family; despite not being able to imitate Arsenio, he can do a pretty good
Eddie Murphy impression.
;5 "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods"
A police detective (
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...
) covets his neighbor's (
Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph Vincent Lo Truglio (; born December 2, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', he also was a cast member on the television series ' ...
)
CAT Scan machine. After continuously buying additional CAT Scan machines to one up each other, both of their wives leave them. After hitting rock bottom, the two neighbors reconcile and go out for a drink. Meanwhile, a disaster at a
nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced ...
plant during a school tour (led by the former lawyer from the third story) leaves a busload of school children in need of several CAT Scan machines. They arrive at the neighbors' houses but the doors are locked and the two men are at the bar, so all the children die.
;6 "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife"
A prisoner (
Rob Corddry
Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...
) desires a fellow inmate's "bitch" (the doctor from the third story) for his own.
;7 "Thou Shalt Not Steal"
The woman (Winona Ryder) from the first story, having recently married the TV anchor man, falls in love with a
ventriloquist
Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is ve ...
(
Michael Ziegfeld's) puppet, steals it and runs off to have a romantic relationship with it.
;8 "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness"
The ventriloquist, having lost his dummy and become a
homeless heroin addict, is told by another homeless man a story about an animated
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species ...
(voice of
H. Jon Benjamin) who earns a reputation as a liar. After learning that a band of
weiner dogs is intent on infecting others with a fatal
STD, the rhinoceros tries to warn everyone. Unfortunately, nobody believes him, and they all succumb to the STD (following an orgy). It is then revealed that the rhinoceros now sells drugs to the homeless men.
;9 "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery"
Jeff Reigert (
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...
) presents all of these stories to the audience, while struggling with his own moral dilemma: having to choose between his beautiful wife (
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen (; born ) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in '' GoldenEye'' (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the ''Taken'' film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she ...
) and his also beautiful but somewhat younger mistress (
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in '' Camp Nowhere'' and '' The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 ...
).
;10 "Remember the Sabbath and Keep It Holy"
The husband from the second story (A.D. Miles) skips church with his family to get naked with his friends and listen to
Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", "Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", "Wher ...
.
Cast
*
Paul Rudd
Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor. He studied theater at the University of Kansas and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, before making his acting debut in 1991. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame i ...
as Jeff Reigert, Gretchen's husband and an man who hosts the stories and has an affair, but ends up reconciling with his wife.
*
Winona Ryder
Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
as Kelly LaFonda, Stephen's ex-fiancée who steals a puppet.
*
Famke Janssen
Famke Beumer Janssen (; born ) is a Dutch actress. She played Xenia Onatopp in '' GoldenEye'' (1995), Jean Grey / Phoenix in the ''X-Men'' film series (2000–2014), and Lenore Mills in the ''Taken'' film trilogy (2008–2014). In 2008, she ...
as Gretchen Reigert, Jeff's wife who reconciles with him in the end.
*
Jessica Alba
Jessica Marie Alba ( ; born April 28, 1981) is an American actress and businesswoman. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in '' Camp Nowhere'' and '' The Secret World of Alex Mack'' (1994), and rose to prominence at age 19 ...
as Liz Anne Blazer, Jeff's young mistress who he has an affair with, but ends up dumping her.
*
Adam Brody as Stephen Montgomery, Kelly's ex-fiancée who is embedded in the ground as the result of a skydive accident.
*
Justin Theroux
Justin Paul Theroux (; born August 10, 1971) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) and the thriller film ''Inland Empire'' (2006). He also ...
as
Jesus H. Christ, the son of god who is portrayed as a seductive Mexican.
*
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
as Marc Jacobson, an impersonator who becomes the adopted dad of 2 black teens.
*
Liev Schreiber
Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywo ...
as Ray Johnson, a police detective who ends up competing with his neighbor by purchasing excessive CAT-Scan machines.
*
Gretchen Mol
Gretchen Mol (born November 8, 1972) is an American actress and former model. She is known for her role as Gillian Darmody in the HBO series ''Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2014). She also appeared in the films ''Rounders'' (1998), ''Celebrity'' ( ...
as Gloria Jennings, a librarian, Noah's mother and Oliver's wife who has a fling with the Spanish Jesus,
*
Rob Corddry
Robert William Corddry (born February 4, 1971) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his work as a correspondent on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' (2002–2006) and for his starring role in the film ''Hot Tub Time Machine''. He ...
as Duane Rosenblum, a prisoner in the jail Glenn is sent to and wishes to have Glenn's raper as his own.
*
Michael Ziegfeld as Harlan Swallow / Gary, a ventriloquist whose puppet, Gary, is stolen by Kelly and is now a drug-addicted hobo.
*
Ken Marino
Kenneth Joseph Marino (born December 19, 1968) is an American actor, comedian, director, and screenwriter. He was a cast member on MTV's ''The State'' and has starred in shows such as '' Party Down'', '' Marry Me'', '' Burning Love'', and '' Chil ...
as
Dr. Glenn Richie, a joke-loving doctor convicted of murder that he insists was "a goof".
*
Janeane Garofalo
Janeane Marie Garofalo ( ; born September 28, 1964) is an American comedian, actress, and former co-host on the now-defunct Air America Radio's ''The Majority Report''.
Garofalo began her career as a stand-up comedian and became a cast member on ...
as Beth, an employee at the nuclear power plant who panics when minors have been exposed to radiation.
*
Mather Zickel
Mather Zickel (born ) is an American actor, mainly known for comedy roles, as well as the character Kieran in ''Rachel Getting Married''. A native of New York City, he has worked in both film and television since the late 1990s. He graduated from t ...
as Louis La Fonda, a news reporter who publishes Stephen's situation from the skydiving incident and becomes Kelly's new husband.
*
Kerri Kenney-Silver
Kerri Kenney-Silver (born January 20, 1970) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and musician. She is best known for starring as Trudy Wiegel on the mockumentary series ''Reno 911!'' and previously for her sketch comedy work on MTV ...
as Bernice Jaffe, a single mother to 2 African-American twin teens who welcomes Marc as her son's new dad.
*
A.D. Miles as Oliver Jennings, Noah's father and Gloria's husband who hosts a nude party on a Sunday
*
Michael Showalter
Michael Showalter (born June 17, 1970) is an American comedian, actor, director, writer, and producer. He first came to recognition as a cast member on MTV's ''The State'', which aired from 1993 to 1995. He and David Wain created the ''Wet Hot ...
as Police Lieutenant Flarn Bairn, a cop Swallow reports the theft of Gary to.
*
David Wain as Abe Grossman, a reporter who interviews Stephen after his accident.
*
Thomas Lennon
Thomas Patrick Lennon (born August 9, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, director, and novelist. He plays Lieutenant Jim Dangle on the series ''Reno 911!''
Lennon is an accomplished screenwriter of several major st ...
as Scotty Pale, one of Paul's friends.
*
Bobby Cannavale as Marty, Oliver's friend who joins him at his naked party.
*
Ron Silver
Ronald Arthur Silver (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor/activist, director, producer, and radio host. As an actor, he portrayed Henry Kissinger, Alan Dershowitz and Angelo Dundee. He was awarded a Tony in 1988 for Best Acto ...
as Fielding Barnes, an agent who makes Stephen a star, but ends up deserting him.
*
Joe Lo Truglio
Joseph Vincent Lo Truglio (; born December 2, 1970) is an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. Best known for his role as Charles Boyle on the Fox/NBC sitcom '' Brooklyn Nine-Nine'', he also was a cast member on the television series ' ...
as Paul, Ray's neighbor who battles him through purchasing lots of CAT-Scan machines.
*
Robert Ben Garant
Robert Ben Garant (born September 14, 1970), credited earlier in his career as Ben Garant, is an American screenwriter, producer, director, actor and comedian. He has a long professional relationship with Thomas Lennon and Kerri Kenney-Silve ...
as Bob, the Forman for the jury at Dr. Ritchie's trial.
*
Jason Sudeikis
Daniel Jason Sudeikis ( ; born September 18, 1975) is an American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. In the 1990s, he began his career in improv comedy and performed with ComedySportz, iO Chicago (Improv Olympic), and The Second City. In 20 ...
as Tony Contiella, the widower husband of Dr. Ritchie's murdered victim who was a temp for Gloria when she took a vacation to Mexico.
*
Kevin Allison
Kevin Allison (born February 16, 1970) is an American comedian, writer, actor, and storyteller. He is perhaps best known as a writing and performing member of the comedy troupe The State, and appeared in their 1993-1995 MTV sketch comedy series '' ...
as Stanley
*
Rashida Jones
Rashida Leah Jones (; born February 25, 1976) is an American actress.
Jones appeared as Louisa Fenn on the Fox drama series '' Boston Public'' (2000–2002), as Karen Filippelli on the NBC comedy series ''The Office'' (2006–2009; 2011), and ...
as Rebecca, a hostess who introduces Swallow and Gary.
*
Jon Hamm
Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama television series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Televis ...
as Charles, a flight instructor to Stephen
*
Tommy Nelson as Noah Jennings, Gloria and Oliver's son.
*
Michael Ian Black
Michael Ian Black (born Michael Ian Schwartz; August 12, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and director. He has starred in several TV comedy series, including ''The State'', '' Viva Variety'', '' Stella'', '' Wet Hot American Summer: F ...
as Prison Guard
*
Cedric Sanders
Cedric () is a masculine given name invented by Walter Scott in the 1819 novel ''Ivanhoe''.Sir Walter Scott, Graham Tulloch (ed.), ''Ivanhoe'', vol. 8 of The Edinburgh Edition of the Waverley Novels, Edinburgh University Press, 1998, , "explanator ...
as Greg Jaffe
*
H. Jon Benjamin voices The Lying Rhino, a deceptive animated rhino whose deception caused him to be helpless in halting a horrendous orgy caused by sexually transmitted
Dachshunds
The dachshund ( or ; German: "badger dog"), also known as the wiener dog, badger dog, and sausage dog, is a short-legged, long-bodied, hound-type dog breed. The dog may be smooth-haired, wire-haired, or long-haired, and comes in a variety of c ...
. He is portrayed by Peter Starlett in the live-action part of the movie.
* John Tormey as Junkie Jerry Park
*
Jason Antoon
Jason Allan Antoon (born November 9, 1971) is an American actor.
Personal life
Antoon was born in Santa Monica, California. He is of Lebanese descent. Antoon has been married to actress Seana Kofoed since 2010; they have two children.
Career S ...
as Salazar 'Fred' McBairn
Reception
The film received mixed reviews. According to the
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...
website
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 ...
, 36% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 5.12/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Although a few of the sketches that make up ''The Ten'' are humorous, the uneven and random tone of the film cause it to fall apart." At
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that 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 average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ten, The
Ten Commandments
2007 films
2007 comedy films
American comedy films
Mexican comedy films
Films directed by David Wain
American anthology films
2000s English-language films
2000s American films
2000s Mexican films