Nine Out of Ten (1997) User Reviews

Good movie if you can get past certain aspects

[mmd147 · 7/10 · 30 July 2008]

If you watch this movie looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy, you'll be very disappointed. Also, I suppose, if you want a movie in which every character is attractive. I did chuckle quite a few times throughout it, but it isn't exactly your typical comedy. There are a lot of cheesy jokes(some not cheesy in a good way, either), but it did have some interesting social commentary, as well as some funny perspectives in general.

Basically, the main character is a wannabee screenplay writer who realizes his career isn't taking off nearly so well as he'd hoped. Since he's not getting any younger, he decides he must take drastic measures. So he decides to ask his rich uncle (grandfather?) if he can borrow some money so he can make one of his movies a reality. His uncle scoffs at him and tells him he doesn't have what it takes to make it in the movie business. When he insists that he's willing to do anything to get the money, his uncle tells him that in order to make it, he must break each of the Ten Commandments. (A funny, if not slightly butchered quote: "The Ten Commandments should have been rewritten as 'The Ten Impediments to Great Wealth and Success'.") Agreeing to cooperate, and seeing this as really his last chance, the main character decides that if he is going to do this, he's going to go all out. He's not going to hold back in any way. He loses a lot of what is important to him, but having skewed his own priorities in his desperation to become famous, he really does not seem to care. Sometimes the movie gets a little absurd, and the acting can be a little rough here and there, but overall it's pretty entertaining.

I personally thought it was very funny how he has to basically kill his own soul to get to where he wants in a business so despicable. It ,akes a lot of points that really are kind of true, if not slightly exaggerated here and there. Like I said, this isn't a laugh-out-loud type of movie, but it's definitely worth seeing.

Not what I expected

[Bzazi · 6/10 · 27 November 2008]

For me, Nine Out of Ten just doesn't deliver. The back of the DVD case said the film was satire and listed a number of antics which, to me, suggested farce, dark comedy or some other absurd, zany antics in the style of Monty Python or Mel Brooks. Also, given that the film is supposed to be satire, I was expecting something intellectual like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead. However, as other have said, the DVD case was misleading as to the contents of the film.

Instead of something intellectual, satirical and dark, I found this to be a rather dull, methodic approach to a cliché plot (mild-manner man decides to break the Ten Commandments). There was nothing satirical or intellectual about the film, and the plot is decent enough for a cheap, low-budget comedy film, but it's not what I felt was promised by the DVD cover, so I feel cheated in a way.

Anyways, to the actual plot itself, it wasn't entirely boring, but it wasn't that unique either. The script itself wasn't as bad as something like Manos: The Hands of Fate, but it's not particularly praise-worthy either.

The acting wasn't horrible, but it was a notch or two below par. For the most part, the acting just didn't seem very naturalistic, and it seemed too often like the actors were just reading from a manuscript and not getting into character.

Also, as someone else said, the audio wasn't quite so good at times. When the credits ran, I only saw one person listed as a boom operator, so I can only assume they used a single boom mic for the entire movie. This worked in the medium shots, but for the wide shots they could've used a few well-disguised lavalier mics as well.

In all, the plot, acting and script are nothing special, and David Stepkin's performance as the eccentric uncle is the only thing that holds the film together and keeps it from being even more obscure, but it's a fairly decent attempt at making a true independent movie, so I'd give it a 6/10, which is a far cry short from the 9/10 the directors were obviously hoping for.

some kinda thing

[winner55 · 2/10 · 17 January 2008]

Ignore the packaging - this film is not about making movies - it's about the son of a well-to-do family who suddenly realizes that he's got to do something with his life. So he decides to make a movie. Then he goes to his rich uncle to beg for front money for the film; the uncle's advice is to toughen up and break the Ten Commandments - is this making sense yet? Is it interesting? No? Oh, Well.

The acting is pretty good; Desiree Titone is very hot.

The lighting is poor, the sound is poor, the characters are not at all attractive, the protagonist is a jerk, the ethics of the film are questionable.

There are some funny bits in this supposed comedy, but the timing is so bad, you easily miss comic turns when they happen, and even when you catch them in time, they're not very funny.

No wonder no one wants to rate or comment on this thing.