{ "id": "epw1y9112h", "slug": "the-ten", "title": "The Ten", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" }, { "id": "geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-2007-to-2008", "label": "Comedies of 2007 to 2008", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.us.t2001.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-2007-to-2008" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The Ten (2007) is an American comedy anthology film directed by David Wain and co-written with Ken Marino, presenting ten stories based on the Ten Commandments, hosted by Paul Rudd, released by THINKFilm with a $3.5 million budget.", "snippet": "The Ten (2007) is an American comedy anthology film directed by David Wain and co-written with Ken Marino, presenting ten stories based on the Ten Commandments, hosted by Paul Rudd, released by THINKFilm with a $3.5 million budget.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-2007-to-2008.yr-2007", "markdown": "# The Ten\n\n*The Ten* is a 2007 American comedy anthology film directed by [David Wain](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-wain) and co-written by Wain and [Ken Marino](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-marino), in which ten short stories, each loosely inspired by one of the [Ten Commandments](https://www.edgepedia.org/ten-commandments), are presented with overlapping characters and recurring comic motifs.[1](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ten) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) It was distributed by THINKFilm, opened in limited release on August 3, 2007, runs 95 minutes, and is rated R.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Directors and writers | Directed by David Wain; written by Wain and Ken Marino[1](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ten) |\n| Structure | Ten stories, each based on one of the Ten Commandments, tied together by a narrator with his own moral problems[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/details/) |\n| Release | THINKFilm; limited theatrical release August 3, 2007; 95 minutes; rated R[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) |\n| Budget | $3.5 million, financed by investors, against roughly $60 million for a comparable Hollywood comedy[4](https://www.wired.com/2008/08/the-state-alum/) |\n| Box office | $769,726 domestic, $785,528 worldwide; widest release 47 theaters[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3782575617/weekend/) |\n| Critical reception | 35% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 82 reviews; a Metascore of 50 (mixed or average)[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) • [6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/critic-reviews/) |\n| Principal cast | Paul Rudd, Winona Ryder, Jessica Alba, Adam Brody, Ken Marino, Famke Janssen, Justin Theroux, Gretchen Mol, Liev Schreiber, Rob Corddry, Bobby Cannavale, Oliver Platt[1](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ten) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and structure\n\nThe film presents ten comic vignettes, each attached to one of the biblical commandments, with characters and themes that overlap across segments.[3](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/details/) [Paul Rudd](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-rudd) serves as host, appearing on a black soundstage adorned with giant computer-generated tablets of stone; his character, Jeff Reigert, introduces the stories while also starring in a tale of adultery, and the framing narrative eventually folds him and [Famke Janssen](https://www.edgepedia.org/famke-janssen)'s character into the main body of the film.[7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) • [8](https://www.independent.com/2007/08/09/ten/)\n\nSeveral segments received particular attention from critics. In the first story, a skydiver played by [Adam Brody](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-brody) forgets his parachute, survives his landing embedded in the ground, and becomes a celebrity phenomenon, illustrating \"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me.\"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) • [7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) Ken Marino plays a surgeon obsessed with pranks who leaves a scalpel inside a patient, killing her, and repeatedly explains that it was \"just a goof.\"[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) • [7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) [Gretchen Mol](https://www.edgepedia.org/gretchen-mol) plays a 35-year-old virgin whose Mexican vacation romance with a hunky carpenter named Jesus Christ, played by [Justin Theroux](https://www.edgepedia.org/justin-theroux), illustrates \"Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain.\"[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/critic-reviews/) Winona Ryder appears in the \"Thou shalt not steal\" segment, in which her character begins a relationship with a ventriloquist's dummy.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) • [7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) One segment, \"Thou shall not tell a lie,\" was realized as an animated piece titled *Lying Rhino*, created by Augenblick Studios under animation director Aaron Augenblick.[9](https://www.augenblickstudios.com/the-ten)\n\nWain described the commandments as a structural device rather than a moral argument. He told the *New York Observer* that the filmmakers \"just thought the Ten Commandments were a great thing to hang a bunch of stories on,\" and said the film was far from a commentary on the role of religion in the world.[10](https://observer.com/2007/07/sweet-fancy-moses-wet-hot-american-summer-director-thumps-bible/amp/) In a 2007 interview he said that he and Marino \"got together and plotted to write something that was funny and silly and had no huge point,\" and that the commandments offered a good structure for that.[11](https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/09/07/david-wain-on-comedy/)\n\n## Production\n\nWain said the project took \"like a nine or ten year process\" from conception to screen.[12](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/18604-exclusive-three-of-the-ten) For the writing itself, he drew on a file of ideas he had randomly written down over the preceding ten years.[13](https://podscan.fm/podcasts/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/episodes/david-wain) The film was made independently, without a major studio: Wain contrasted its $3.5 million investor-financed budget with the roughly $60 million cost of a Hollywood comedy like *Step Brothers*, and with the $1 million budget of his earlier *Wet Hot American Summer*.[4](https://www.wired.com/2008/08/the-state-alum/)\n\nThe cast drew heavily on Wain's circle. Wain and Marino came out of The State, an early-1990s MTV sketch comedy troupe with 18 members, many of whom appear in the film alongside screen actors such as [Jessica Alba](https://www.edgepedia.org/jessica-alba) and [Liev Schreiber](https://www.edgepedia.org/liev-schreiber).[7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) • [4](https://www.wired.com/2008/08/the-state-alum/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was mixed and divided. The film scored 35% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, with a critics consensus that the uneven and random tone caused it to fall apart despite some humorous sketches.[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten) On Metacritic it received a Metascore of 50, with 7 positive, 11 mixed, and 4 negative reviews among 22 counted.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/critic-reviews/) Reviewers who responded positively included Owen Gleiberman of *Entertainment Weekly*, who called it \"devious and inspired enough to juice you past any weak spots,\" and Nathan Rabin of *The A.V. Club*, who found the early skits explosively funny and predicted cult fame for the project.[6](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/critic-reviews/) Time Out gave it 3 out of 5 stars, judging that some of the minimovies were sharper than others and that a few performers were not quite clued in.[1](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ten)\n\nCommercially, the film earned $121,374 in its opening weekend in 25 theaters and ran through October 4, 2007, finishing with $769,726 domestically and $785,528 worldwide.[5](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3782575617/weekend/)\n\n## Comparison with The Decalogue\n\nSeveral critics compared the film to *The Decalogue* (*Dekalog*), the 1989 ten-part Polish television series by [Krzysztof Kieślowski](https://www.edgepedia.org/krzysztof-kieslowski) that addressed the commandments in as many episodes.[8](https://www.independent.com/2007/08/09/ten/) The Santa Barbara Independent framed *The Ten* as \"something similar, but completely different\" from Kieślowski's considered masterpiece.[8](https://www.independent.com/2007/08/09/ten/) The critic Nick Schager, writing in Slant Magazine, called the two works tonally divergent but noted shared parallels, including a belief in the commandments as bedrocks of human experience and in their interconnected relationship to one another.[7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/) A review at NotComing.com argued that both works consider the iterative nature of the commandments, which must be taken as a whole with their individual components clarifying each other.[14](https://www.notcoming.com/reviews/theten/) A theological survey likewise groups the two, noting that both use the Ten Commandments as a structure for ten smaller stories.[15](https://www.palparkchurch.org/GTS/TenCommandmentsE.pdf)\n\n## Aftermath\n\nWain followed the film with *Role Models*, his first big studio movie, co-written with Marino and Paul Rudd for Universal; he described that project as a mainstream comedy told through a David Wain lens.[4](https://www.wired.com/2008/08/the-state-alum/) • [16](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/49830-excl-david-wain-from-wainy-days-to-role-model) In a later interview he counted the collaborative writing retreat that produced *The Ten* as the first of three such sessions, the second producing *Wanderlust*.[13](https://podscan.fm/podcasts/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/episodes/david-wain)\n\n## References\n\n1. [The Ten review, Time Out New York (Joshua Rothkopf, August 1, 2007)](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-ten)\n2. [The Ten, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10007947-ten)\n3. [The Ten details, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/details/)\n4. [David Wain Moves From Wainy Days to Role Models, WIRED (August 2008)](https://www.wired.com/2008/08/the-state-alum/)\n5. [The Ten, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3782575617/weekend/)\n6. [The Ten critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-ten/critic-reviews/)\n7. [Review: The Ten, Slant Magazine (Nick Schager, June 14, 2007)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/the-ten/)\n8. [The Ten, The Santa Barbara Independent (August 9, 2007)](https://www.independent.com/2007/08/09/ten/)\n9. [The Ten, Augenblick Studios](https://www.augenblickstudios.com/the-ten)\n10. [Sweet Fancy Moses! Wet Hot American Summer Director Thumps Bible, New York Observer (July 2007)](https://observer.com/2007/07/sweet-fancy-moses-wet-hot-american-summer-director-thumps-bible/amp/)\n11. [David Wain on comedy and Commandments, The Badger Herald (September 7, 2007)](https://badgerherald.com/artsetc/2007/09/07/david-wain-on-comedy/)\n12. [Exclusive: Three of The Ten!, ComingSoon.net (January 29, 2007)](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/18604-exclusive-three-of-the-ten)\n13. [David Wain, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn (podcast episode)](https://podscan.fm/podcasts/bullseye-with-jesse-thorn/episodes/david-wain)\n14. [The Ten review, NotComing.com (Rumsey Taylor, March 14, 2007)](https://www.notcoming.com/reviews/theten/)\n15. [The Ten Commandments, Goahead Theological Seminary & College course text](https://www.palparkchurch.org/GTS/TenCommandmentsE.pdf)\n16. [EXCL: David Wain, From Wainy Days to Role Model, ComingSoon.net (2008)](https://www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/49830-excl-david-wain-from-wainy-days-to-role-model)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2007 to 2008 › Released in 2007*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"The Ten\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[The Ten](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"The Ten\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/the-ten. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The Ten is an American comedy anthology film directed by David Wain and co-written with Ken Marino, presenting ten stories based on the Ten Commandments, hosted by Paul Rudd, released by THINKFilm with a $3.5 million budget." }