10 Items or Less

[KLAXXON]

With his career drying up, a Hollywood Icon is forced to consider a low budget movie. Out researching the role he is abandoned by his driver with no cash or mobile phone and on the wrong side of the tracks.

His saviour is Scarlett, a check out girl with attitude, and what looks like another celebrity scandal reveals an unexpected friendship that will leave a lifelong impression.

Morgan Freemen is playing an actor who’s been struggling to find work, so he takes a role in an independent film playing a store manager. In order to do research for the part, one of the production assistants (Jonah Hill) takes him down to a real market far from the glitz of Hollywood and drops him off for a few hours.

He wanders around the store mimicking the manager, Lee’s (Kumar Pallana) every move. Then starts watching the cashier running the express lane; Scarlet (Paz Vega) has a unique talent for being able to do all the totals in her head and smile while she’s being rude to the customers and the other checker without missing a beat. Morgan is fascinated by her.

When Morgan realizes he’s been stranded, Scarlet reluctantly agrees to give him a lift home, but only after she does all her errands. She has a job interview to get to, but first she has to stop by where her husband (Bobby Cannavale) lives with his girlfriend. It’s a world that Morgan has never really seen – he’s amazed at the bargains you can get at Target. On a serious side, Morgan offers to help Scarlet prepare for her “audition” for her new job. They spend time getting her looking right for the part and then work on practice interviews and affirmations to get her in the right frame of mind to blow away her new boss. When they play “name the 10 items or less you would keep”, it’s a very telling moment. In the end, they inspire each other and you just know this has been one of those life-changing days.

Not a lot happens in this movie (10 things or less), but it’s easy to like. Watching Morgan switch “characters” and talk to everybody he meets is just fun. If he wasn’t completely likeable this movie would get old fast, but you just want to ride along with these two all day as they prepare for the rest of their lives.



Morgan Freeman does not play himself in "10 Items or Less," but the joke is that he's coming awfully close. His role is that of an beloved and respected actor known for a majestic voice and a sense of authority. We know he is not Morgan Freeman - too many unsubtle hints sprinkled throughout take care of that - but there's this playful way the movie never quite comes fully clear about it, teasing us with running gags about Ashley Judd movies.

Freeman's anonymous character - labeled simply "Him" in the credits - is a legendary movie star whose fears of commitment and failure have left him in hiding. He hasn't made a film in four years. Now he's back, taking a small role in an independent production, even if he won't let himself admit it; he's quick to tell everyone that he hasn't officially agreed to the part. Still, he has agreed to character research, planning to spend a few hours at a rundown grocery store in a seedy part of town.

Character research, it turns out, is his great passion. He spends every minute of his waking life studying others. Their quirks, their patterns, their little rote mannerisms. He loves it, finding great wonder in, say, how fast an office worker can flip through a stack of files, or how rhythmically a cashier can handle groceries. As a man so detached from the rest of the world, he sees this as a chance to reconnect.

It's at the grocery he meets a real firecracker named Scarlet (the unbearably adorable Paz Vega). She runs the express lane with a ruthless efficiency. Despite a loud mouth and a quick temper, the actor also sees a sweetness and an intelligence to go along with that tough work ethic.

When the actor's ride fails to show up (and the actor discovers he doesn't even know his own phone number), Scarlet offers him a lift. So begins their day of great change: she will learn to unlock the confidence and ambition she has within, he will learn about the world outside Brentwood.

Written and directed by Brad Silberling ("Moonlight Mile," "A Series of Unfortunate Events"), "10 Items or Less" was filmed in two weeks as something of an experiment in low budget filmmaking. The result is a tight, compact little tale of characters sharing a day. Little happens; the biggest plot turns are a visit to Target (the actor can't believe those prices!) and, later, Scarlet's job interview, which has the nerve to happen off screen.

The big events in these people's lives will happen after the credits; we are watching the seeds of change being planted, but we will never see them sprout. But that can be a good thing, as Scarlet and the actor are so mismatched yet so well in tune with each other that watching them spend a day has a pleasant tone to it all. There is great joy to be had in watching Morgan Freeman discover the little wonders of everyday life - a trip to the car wash, a visit to Arby's.

The film is an exercise in efficiency. The running time is a brisk 82 minutes, and the last twelve of those are for credits and various "cookies" featuring extra footage of the various everyday folks we met along the way. But consider what Silberling, Freeman, and Vega do in the remaining 70 minutes: they deliver fully developed, endlessly endearing characters, and show us how they grow and discover and reconnect. This is a story about self-discovery, and we manage to see it all happen in a surprisingly compact amount of time. This is a dazzling piece of character study, set to a breezy, charming tone.

Morgan Freeman ... Him
Jonah Hill ... Packy
Paz Vega ... Scarlet
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



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