COMMANDMENTS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
So how many of the Ten Commandments have you violated today? Harry Lucia (Anthony LaPaglia) brags that, "I break 5 or 6 commandments every day before lunch." But have you ever felt the need to break them all?
Who among us hasn't blamed God for some misfortune that has befallen us. In the movie COMMANDMENTS, Harry's brother-in-law Seth Warner (Aidan Quinn) has had so much trouble lately with The Almighty that Seth seems ready to file suit against Heaven, Inc. Instead, he devises a different punishment for God, the systematic breaking of every one of his commandments.
"I am not crazy," Seth tells us. "I know the difference between bad luck and divine inspiration." Some of us have had bad days, but Seth's problems are much more cataclysmic.
One idyllic day, Seth and his wife Karen (Joanna Going) go to the beach. While Seth peacefully falls asleep on the sand, his wife goes out for a swim. When he awakens, his wife has vanished.
After a search turns up nothing, Seth becomes a hermit in his home while waiting for some sign from God as to whether Karen is alive. Many weeks later, he gets a message of sorts when a tornado strikes his brownstone but leaves all of the other homes in the neighborhood unharmed. When he returns to work, his boss fires him. After being struck by lightning, he gives up and turns on God. He prepares a list of all the commandments so he can check them off as he commits each sin.
Harry, whose frequent narration forms the story's glue, is an investigative reporter. When he tells his editor, Gordon Bloom (Jack Gilpin), about Seth's plan, Bloom thinks it can get front page coverage. Afterall, the story has it all -- "death, sex, and God."
Writer and director Daniel Taplitz's intelligent script starts as a broadly written black comedy, but by the end he has subtly transformed the story into a poignant drama. His rich characters are worth the audience's attention, and the compelling acting by the three leads, Courteney Cox plays Harry's wife Rachel, draw us into the story. Most plots are rehashes of some other story, but the COMMANDMENTS is fresh and surprising throughout.
Seth finds that some commandments are easy to break (idolatry), some are hard (murder), and some are fun (adultery). The way the script sets up the circumstances, each becomes an interesting vignette. Some, such as bearing false witness, are handled quite imaginatively.
There is no mystery about whom Seth will commit adultery with. The genuine chemistry that builds between Seth and Rachel becomes the best subplot in the film. ("Am I a commandment to be broken?" she inquires when he starts coming on to her. "Yes," he says. But she wants to know, "Is that all?" He simply replies "No," and with that settled, their love making can begin.) Very erotic, but with almost no nudity, their romance comes alive with just a few scenes.
The show builds to its chief conundrum -- how will the hardest commandment, murder, be broken. I will give no hints.
Harry, being the most likely murder target, is interviewed by his editor. "For the record," Gordon says, while pushing a microtape recorder in Harry's face. "If you were murdered, how would that make you feel?"
A strangely satisfying show, that has to be experienced to be appreciated. My wife and I view this as a little gem of a picture.
COMMANDMENTS runs a very fast 1:26. The film is rated R for non-explicit sex, brief nudity, and a little violence. COMMANDMENTS would be fine for teenagers. I recommend this funny and ultimately touching story to you and give it ***.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: May 2, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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