Review of Ten Tricks

I was truly impressed with the overall production values of the film. John Bailey, the cinematographer, is one of the best in the business, and I thought he did a terrific job on what was probably a very low budget film. The other production values were also terrific, and the performances were some of the best I've seen in a film of this size. And I also was intrigued by the fact that the four or five actors in the movie play all the male roles; it's a little unclear but I think it may have something to do with the idea that all these men represent a kind of Everyman image.

Lea Thompson was also terrific in the film, especially in the last scene, with the sheriff (I won't mention how it ends, which is I guess something of a "surprise" ending). The other women in the film are beautiful, and there are many great comedic scenes as well to lift this film above the average.

I read somewhere that the film was based on a play that was produced originally in Los Angeles and was a hit there. I can understand some of the limitations of the script because of that, since it does tend to read like a play on film rather than a film. But even with that, I still found it a really smart, funny, moving film about the flaws of humans, and our basic need to move on in our lives.

I'd certainly like to see more from these filmmakers.