Inspired loosely by Krysztof Kieslowski’s famous “Dekalog” film series, director/co-writer David Wain takes a running leak at the Ten Commandments with ten equally timed comic segments that add up to a modern-day “Love American Style” brand of irreverent humor.
Paul Rudd does dual duties as master of ceremonies and active participant in one of the skits. Some episodes work better than others do, but overall there’s enough constancy of tone for the comic glue to hang together.
Liev Schreiber, Gretchen Mol, Justin Theroux, and Winona Ryder are some of the talented cast members that inject mordant humor and serious laughs into the proceedings.
The comedy works best in the area of “coveting,” as with the story of a neighbor who covets his neighbor’s CAT Scan machine, and chases his family away by obsessively buying the enormous devises.
Especially guffaw-inducing is a bit where a convict (Rob Corddry) covets a fellow inmate’s “wife.”
In spite of its shortcomings, “The Ten” is an inspired and imaginative bellwether for where modern American comic sensibilities lay at the moment.
It pushes the envelope in all of the right ways.
Rated R. 95 mins.
