DVD Review - The Ten

Director: David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer)

Writers: David Wain, Ken Marino

Cast: Paul Rudd, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, Winona Ryder, Adam Brody, Liev Schreiber, Jessica Alb, Oliver Platt (by now you get that this is an all-star cast)

Rating: R for pervasive strong crude sexual content including dialogue and nudity, and for language and some drug material.

Format: Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Surround Sound, Widescreen

Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Run Time: 96 min.

What is this movie about?

This doesn't necessarily have much of a plot - it's actually a series of quirky, sometimes ridiculous, sketches revolving around the Ten Commandments.

The Review

Before I say anything else, any fan of David Wain needs to see this movie. Despite its inability to stand up to the utterly ridiculous nature of his other work, it remains something to watch because he is beginning to work with some big-name talent here. On the other hand, I'm not going to advocate this as the next great American film, or even a very good movie period, but it would be a crime for Stella fans and those who loved Wet Hot American Summer to not see The Ten.

Every ounce of me was willing this movie to go on and make me laugh, especially after the first two sketches stood out as ending in particularly unfunny and abrupt ways (although we will all be saying "vagina" in new ways while watching this) after starting with such promise. The best sketches of all simply could not pick up the rest of the movie and I could not allow myself to get fully captivated by the crude humor like I can with many other films of this oddball, random nature.

In fact, the best part of The Ten had nothing to do with the main sketches at all. What kept this from being an abomination was Paul Rudd's performance as the slab-toting host of the sketches. At least this movie proved that I could watch Paul Rudd talk in a black void for an hour and a half and be fully entertained the entire time. I was hoping for some of the main sketches to end, just so I could see more of Rudd's ongoing dilemma between his wife and his new girlfriend, played surprisingly well by Jessica Alba. She turns in one of her better performances (and it has nothing to do with her hardly being in it), making the supposed "bridges" from sketch-to-sketch the actual highlights of the movie. The only problem is that they end up being too short.

Overall, The Ten disappoints on a number of levels, and while there are glimpses of brilliant comedy at play, they are just too few and far between to make this anything more than a brief roadblock for Wain and Friends. It would seem as if the crude level was turned down to appeal to a larger audience. There was potential just waiting to be tapped with this all-star cast - maybe it will be the next time around.

Special Features

Audio Commentary with David Wain, Ken Marino, and Paul Rudd - plus soothing jazz and David's parents

Additional Scenes - outtakes, deleted, and extended scenes

Interview with Ken Marino, Paul Rudd, and David Wain at the 2007 South-by-Southwest Film Festival

Wainy Days - Episode 1, from Mydamnchannel.com

The Making of the Ten - featurette

Exclusive (and outrageous) ringtones and wallpaper

Trailers (rated and unrated versions)

Subtitles (Spanish), scene selection

Should you buy this DVD?

This is a strict rental, as the special features do little to make this worth buying. As it is only one disc, the main selling point is the movie itself, and that's just not going to justify spending nearly twenty bucks on it. However, checking out "Wainy Days" on Mydamnchannel.com would very much be worth your time.

Grade: C+