DVD Review: The Ten

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The Ten (2007)–***
DVD Review

So, you’re on Netflix or going to a video store, and you’re thinking, “Hey, why can’t I ever find a comedy about a woman having sex with a ventriloquist dummy?” Well, my friend, David Wain has come to your rescue. The Ten, comedy director/writer Wain’s most recent film, arrives on DVD Jan. 15, and we’re lucky enough to experience a comedy that violates most of the Old Testament sex laws, not just the Ten Commandments.

Paul Rudd is Jeff, our guide to 10 stories representing the Ten Commandments. He’s the adulterer, which is way down on the list, so it’s less important. First up, though, is the story of Stephen Montgomery (Adam Brody), who is worshiped as a false god when he plummets to the earth while skydiving embedding himself in the ground and surviving. Then there’s a librarian named Gloria (Gretchen Mol) who takes the Lord’s name in vain…while she’s having sex with him.

We encounter covetous individuals. One is about a suburban father (Liev Schreiber) seeking to compete with his neighbor in a race to purchase the most CAT Scan machines, and another is the story of a just-transferred convict (Rob Corddry) seeking to steal a prison bitch (Ken Marino) away from another prisoner. The prison bitch is in jail for killing someone.

There’s an animated story about a rhino who sells heroine, but only came to selling smack after his lying got people killed. Two brothers must deal with the issue of their parents lying to them, being black children born to a white couple. And there’s a nude musical number about remembering the Sabbath.

Winona Ryder’s story of a young woman who steals a ventriloquist dummy because she falls in love with him is the most enjoyable tenth of the film. Ryder’s not someone associated with comedy, but she delivers lines like I will SMACK you! in a way the makes my heart smile. As a dramatic actress, she knows where the line between subtle dramatic effect and overacting lies. Like a gazelle, she sprints gracefully over that line.

All of the Ten Commandment stories, including Ryder’s, are lampooning something – disaster movies, after-school specials, family sitcoms, even Y Tu Mamá También. And they do it with a raunchy goofiness I rarely appreciate. Wain puts together a string of vignettes with such skill that more pretentious works of the same style should envy it. The humor isn’t for everyone. Still, if you take a look at the first paragraph in this review and you’ve asked yourself a question like the one I mention, then The Ten is for you.

The Ten, directed by David Wain, starring Winona Ryder, Liev Schreiber, Gretchen Mol, Adam Brody, Paul Rudd and some more people is available on DVD Tuesday, Jan. 15.

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