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Capsule review: David Wain’s ‘The Ten’
I got into the swing of SXSW Film with two movies today. My first film of the festival was the absurd new comedy ‘The Ten’ from Stella and The State alum David Wain. Festival producer Matt Dentler explained in his introduction at the Paramount screening that while ”The Ten” may have been a midnight screening at Sundance this winter, it is the type of film that can play any time during SXSW - morning, noon or night.
As the film’s narrator Paul Rudd tells the audience from the outset, the movie is a series of 10 vignettes based on the Ten Commandments. From America’s fascination with idolizing celebrities as false idols, to a prison inmate coveting a fellow inmate’s ”wife,” the stories were not only completely absurd, but also very meta, with tongue-in-cheek irony and self-referential humor sprinkled throughout. Some of the bits achieved much better results than others. I particularly liked a scene in which a delusional Wynona Ryder falls in love with a ventriloquist’s dummy, and another sequence in which a 35 year-old virgin travels to Mexico and loses her virginity to Jesus. Yes, the Jesus. I also enjoyed seeing all of the members of The State, along with a slew of cameos that did not feel too gratuitous, although Jessica Alba’s appearance made me scratch my head.
In between the acts, Rudd’s narrator character engaged the audience with his own moral play, a device that helped break up the pieces nicely. While some of the bits lagged or missed their marks, the movie did not drag as a whole because of the use of the vignettes. Much like long-form improvisation or sketch comedy, if one bit seemed to fail slightly, you could take solace in the fact that another was right around the corner. A few elements and characters reappeared in each story, giving the movie as a whole a bit of a through line. The audience seemed delighted with the absurdist pastiche from the seasoned post-modern sketch comedy veteran.
I guess I will be trite and go ahead and give grades for the films I see this Fest; so, I’ll give ”The Ten” a B. It made me laugh; although there were a few times it just seemed to be trying a little too hard.
As for the venue, I don’t know if it is because the wonderful and friendly ushers at the Paramount are all septuagenarians, but it is always freezing in that place. Like, you could hang meat cold, and I’ve had more leg space on a flight from Dallas to Abilene. Just sayin’.
Additional note: For all of you fans of The State, Wain said production of a DVD of the late great show is in the works.
Random celebrity sighting: members of OK Go, who apparently took in a matinee before opening for Snow Patrol tonight at Stubb’s.
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