The Ten


The Ten is a 2007 American anthology comedy film directed by David Wain and cowritten by Wain and Ken Marino. It was released through ThinkFilm. The film was released on August 3, 2007. The DVD was released on January 15, 2008.

Plot

Ten stories, each inspired by one of the Ten Commandments:
;1 "Thou Shalt Worship No God Before Me"
A man becomes a celebrity after falling out of a plane and becoming permanently embedded in the ground, thanks to a superstar agent. After a swift rise to stardom, he becomes prideful and arrogant, referring to himself as a god. His career falls apart and he loses everything. His fiancée leaves him for a TV anchor man.
;2 "Thou Shalt Not Take the Lord's Name in Vain"
A librarian has a sexual awakening in Mexico with a swarthy local who turns out to be Jesus Christ. She eventually settles down and marries her coworker, but is secretly reminded of her fling with Jesus whenever her family prays before a meal.
;3 "Thou Shalt Not Murder"
A doctor kills his patient by leaving a pair of scissors inside her abdomen during surgery. Despite expecting the charges to be dropped because he left the scissors in "as a goof", the judge and jury sentence him to life in prison. The judge also disbars the plaintiff's lawyer, who is then told that he should consider a job as a tour guide at the local nuclear plant.
;4 "Honor Thy Mother and Thy Father"
A white mother enlists an Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonator to be a father figure to her black children after telling them he is their biological father. It is revealed that their father is in reality Arsenio Hall, but they decide to keep the Arnold impersonator as part of the family; despite not being able to imitate Arsenio, he can do a pretty good Eddie Murphy impression.
;5 "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods"
A police detective covets his neighbor's CAT Scan machine. After continuously buying additional CAT Scan machines to one up each other, both of their wives leave them. After hitting rock bottom, the two neighbors reconcile and go out for a drink. Meanwhile, a disaster at a nuclear power plant during a school tour leaves a busload of school children in need of several CAT Scan machines. They arrive at the neighbors' houses but the doors are locked and the two men are at the bar, so all the children die.
;6 "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife"
A prisoner desires a fellow inmate's "bitch" for his own.
;7 "Thou Shalt Not Steal"
The woman from the first story, having recently married the TV anchor man, falls in love with a ventriloquist puppet, steals it and runs off to have a romantic relationship with it.
;8 "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness"
The ventriloquist, having lost his dummy and become a homeless heroin addict, is told by another homeless man a story about an animated rhinoceros who earns a reputation as a liar. After learning that a band of weiner dogs is intent on infecting others with a fatal STD, the rhinoceros tries to warn everyone. Unfortunately, nobody believes him, and they all succumb to the STD. It is then revealed that the rhinoceros now sells drugs to the homeless men.
;9 "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery"
Jeff Reigert presents all of these stories to the audience, while struggling with his own moral dilemma: having to choose between his beautiful wife and his also beautiful but somewhat younger mistress.
;10 "Remember the Sabbath and Keep It Holy"
The husband from the second story skips church with his family to get naked with his friends and listen to Roberta Flack.

Cast

The film received mixed reviews. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 81 reviews, with an average rating of 5.12/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Although a few of the sketches that make up The Ten are humorous, the uneven and random tone of the film cause it to fall apart." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 50 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".