Reviews

The Ten

Hallelujah the hodgepodge

By TOM MEEK | August 1, 2007

3.0 Stars

THE TEN: Winona Ryder gets her, uh, man.

Although Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Decalogue remains the best cinematic reimagining of the Ten Commandments, Ken Marino & David Wain’s The Ten may be the most irreverent. (What else is there, Wholly Moses!?) A hodgepodge of 10 skits, one for each law, hosted by a smug Paul Rudd, it resembles comedic groundbreakers like The Kentucky Fried Movie and The Groove Tube. And, true to its roots, the film pumps the redoubtable ensemble through the gonzo wringer. Winona Ryder, for example, plays a newlywed who gets sexually liberated by a dummy (the wooden kind). Rudd’s poor announcer struggles to choose between Famke Janssen and Jessica Alba. (We all should be that unfortunate.) Most devilish of all is the “Thou Shall Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife” yarn: a screwball doctor (Marino) botches a surgery as a gag, ends up incarcerated, and in a brutal twist becomes the jailhouse bitch. Hallelujah.

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