Not a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, The Ten is nonetheless entertaining in its best moments and valiant in its efforts to be entertaining in its worst moments.
The movie is ostensibly overseen by one man, played by Paul Rudd, who presents 10 cautionary tales each based on a different commandment. One has a man who falls from the sky but survives eventually hailed as a god only to have his life and insta-celebrity fall apart around him. Another has a pair of neighbors trying to one-up each other in how many CAT scan machines they can own. You get the idea.
In between the vignettes Rudd’s character tries to navigate his own life as he cheats on his wife, played by Famke Janssen, with a young woman played by Jessica Alba.
All the stories are intertwined, at least marginally, with characters appearing over and over again even if that specific segment isn’t about them.
It’s a decent movie, and I get what the filmmakers were going for. There are some genuinely funny moments in it, though it doesn’t quite hang together as one complete hole unit. The Rudd segments just aren’t strong enough - and sometimes even interrupt - the main story as it progresses from one cast of characters to another.
Still, the movie does have its moments and I’d recommend checking it out to judge for yourself. There’s enough decent, accurate satire in the movie to make it worth a rental.
[Buy The Ten at Amazon here]
(Spout Blog X-post)
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Chris Thilk