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10 ITEMS OR LESS
Written & Directed by: Brad Silberling.
Produced by: Julie Lynn, Lori McCreary, & Silberling.
Director of Photography by: Phedon Papamichael.
Edited by: Michael Kahn.
Released by: THINKFilm.
Country of Origin: USA. 82 min. Rated R.
With: Morgan Freeman, Paz Vega, Jonah Hill, Alexandra Berardi, Bobby Cannavale, Anne Dudek, Kumar Pallana, & Jim Parsons.

Morgan Freeman stars in his first independent starring role since who knows when, basically playing himself, or rather, a version of himself. Freeman, who is credited simply as Him (we never find out his name), is being driven to a rundown grocery in a rundown part of Los Angeles to do a little research for a role he may or may not accept in an independent film where he would be working in a supermarket. When he arrives to his destination, he finds it practically empty. Despite its manager being only oddly present at times, the real force to reckon with is Scarlet (Paz Vega), who is fervent about not only who gets through her 10 items or less aisle, but how much everything costs without even scanning the prices.

A bond forms between Him and Scarlet not really by choice, at least at first; he can’t get in touch with the driver who left him there or his agent, so she has to drive him home, but not before she has to take care of some things, like getting her car keys from her deadbeat husband (Bobby Cannavale), and, more crucially, a job interview. Their connection then forms through his persistence at getting her ready for the interview, as if she was about to perform Shakespeare, prepared to a T, which is easier said than done with her headstrong personality.

Freeman’s character has not acted in four years, not because of a lack of offers but for his indecision on what he would be good for. (As an in-joke to be sure, Freeman turns around embarrassing used-VHS copies of a movie he costarred in with Ashley Judd.) He has his own dry sense of humor, and in his own way is a little pushy and insistent, as well as having a knack for observing those around him, and, more especially, her. Freeman’s batting average still stays strong here as an actor able to tap into a character, even if he’s probably playing himself.

Scarlet, meanwhile, has sort of shut herself off from almost everyone, partly from the stress and cynicism from her job, and from relationships that go nowhere fast. At 25, she says she already feels quite old. Vega plays her very strongly as a volatile force for the first half, and only as Freeman starts to tear away the layers do the characters open up completely.

The cast and crew apparently had no worries making this slice of life, with the cast and crew laughing through outtakes during the end credits. Director Brad Silbering, I’d also imagine, probably wanted something much more low-key following his last big-budget studio assignment, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. What he presents us with then is something self-conscious, and with not a lot of substantial weight, but within the script’s limitations, there is a certain sense of freedom for wherever the dialog may lead the characters. While the talk itself can be a little tiresomely cute at times, like when the two interview each other about each other’s own “list of 10 items or less” of certain things, for the most part Silbering is content to just leave us with these two seemingly total opposites who share a certain loneliness. His style is carefree and loose, the humor ranging from very funny to merely amusing, and it ends on a note of odd catharsis for both Him and Scarlet, which I won’t reveal here. This is the kind of picture that I would recommend more on DVD than for something to rush to see in the theaters. It’s as Freeman/Him says about the potential independent project he might take on, “If it takes off, fine. If it becomes nothing, I don’t even need to acknowledge it.” Jack Gattanella
December 1, 2006