10 Items or Less (2006)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Brad Silberling

Writer (WGA):

Brad Silberling (written by)

Release Date:

1 December 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

You Are Who You Meet

Plot:

An actor (Freeman) prepping for an upcoming role meets a quirky grocery clerk (Vega), and the pair hit the road to show one another their respective worlds.

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Change | Cashier | Number 10 In Title | California

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Morgan Freeman	...	Him
Paz Vega	...	Scarlet
Jonah Hill	...	Packy
Anne Dudek	...	Lorraine
Francisca Hernandez	...	Market Wife / Market Gossip #1
Nacho Pina	...	Market Husband
Hector Running-Hawk	...	Squeezing Customer
Alexis Hernandez	...	Cowed Customer
Silvia Curiel	...	Shocked Customer
Shawn Calizo	...	Scared Customer
Kumar Pallana	...	Lee
Rosa Diaz	...	Market Gossip #2
Hector Atreyu Ruiz	...	Low-riding Gang Banger
Bobby Cannavale	...	Bobby
Leonardo Nam	...	Kid at Target

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

82 min | Canada:82 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:13 | Singapore:NC-16 | Australia:MA | Netherlands:AL

Filming Locations:

Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Reveal Entertainment

Trivia:

This was the first film in motion picture history that was legally available on the Internet while the film was still in theaters.

Goofs:

Plot holes: Impossible time line. After working eight-hour-shift at grocery store that ends in mid-afternoon (store opens at 7 a.m., meaning she gets off at 3 or 4 p.m.), Scarlet claims she must rush to job interview at construction site that supposedly would close at 5 or 6 p.m. But before going to interview she somehow still finds time to have fight with ex-husband and smash his girlfriend's car in a trailer park, go on shopping spree at Target, have car washed, go to fast food restaurant and have long philosophical discussion with another character - and still make an appointment a mere two hours later.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Him: Sorry, what was your name again?
Packy: Packy.
Him: Packy?
Packy: Yeah.
Him: Are we lost, Packy?

Movie Connections:

References Day of the Animals (1977)

Soundtrack:

Las Isabeles

Very human road story

Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega are the mismatched pair who get in the car and go about doing errands according to the need of one or the other. Morgan Freeman is superbly human, relating with one and all, while Paz Vega is the edgy cashier behind the "10 Items or Less" check out line, intimidating customers and bored out of her mind. Together they explore, discover, and learn from each other. To do that of course they must be vulnerable, interested in change, and have a sense of humour, all of which they both have. I wish this film was realistic, I wish this type of story happened more often, I wish we didn't have to go to the movies to realize that we can indeed connect with each other even if we come from vastly different backgrounds. The film's message is based in the open heart, and makes us wonder about the possibility of another world where we meet each other from there - a world where peace could be a possibility.