10 Items or Less

Plot

An aging Hollywood icon whose fear of failure has caused his once-luminous star to smoulder strikes up an unlikely friendship with an acid-tongued checkout clerk while researching his latest role in City of Angels and Moonlight Mile director Brad Silberling's intimate drama. Crippled by his own all-consuming fears, the man who was once Hollywood's hottest icon (Morgan Freeman) is forced to consider a role in a low-budget independent after a series of more lucrative prospects wither away on the vine. When his driver abandons him during a trip to Carson to research his upcoming role, the onetime showbiz supernova strikes up a lively conversation with Scarlet (Paz Vega), an outspoken check-out girl at a Latino community market. Now, stuck on his own, far from Brentwood, the actor must rely upon the kindness of a common stranger to help him get back on his feet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Review

Exchange the nocturnal melancholy of Tokyo for sunny East Los Angeles, then swap Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson for Morgan Freeman and Paz Vega, and you've got 10 Items or Less, Brad Silberling's own version of Lost in Translation, albeit with a lot more whimsy. Like Murray before him, Freeman plays a famous actor who meets a young woman at a crucial moment of self-doubt for both; each provides the other the perspective to better understand themselves, implicitly understanding the fleeting nature of their time together rather than trying to consummate any potential attraction. Silberling's influences may be obvious, but that doesn't mean the writer-director hasn't fashioned himself a nice little movie here. He's actually taken the logic of Lost in Translation one step further -- while Murray and Johansson's characters were both white Americans, Freeman and Vega have barriers of language (English is her second) and ethnicity dividing them, in addition to the gap between their ages. Both are charming as they develop a definite chemistry, but Freeman deserves extra credit for seeming to peer inside his true self. His character is never named, but thinly veiled references to Freeman's real career choices make the comparison overt and intentional. There's one exception: his character in 10 Items or Less is eager to make a comeback, whereas the real Freeman was firmly at the top of his game while doing this low-budget favor for Silberling. And he's clearly enjoying this little indie diversion, looking utterly carefree while dancing to Latino pop at a car wash, singing Spanish nursery rhymes with Vega, and eating Arby's sandwiches by the Los Angeles River. It's a teasingly brief little effort, running just 70 minutes, followed by another ten of spirited outtakes over the closing credits. But the sentiments and moments are meaty enough to compensate. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast

• Morgan Freeman - Him
• Paz Vega - Scarlet
• Bobby Cannavale - Bobby
• Anne Dudek - Lorraine
• Jennifer Echols

Jonah Hill - The Kid; Leonardo Nam - Sales Kid; Kumar Pallana - Lee; Jim Parsons; Danny DeVito; Rhea Perlman

Credit

Avy Kaufman - Casting, Kelly Thomas - Co-producer, Isis Mussenden - Costume Designer, Michele Panelli-Venetis - First Assistant Director, Brad Silberling - Director, Michael Kahn - Editor, Morgan Freeman - Executive Producer, Antonio Pinto - Composer (Music Score), Dawn Solér - Musical Direction/Supervision, Denise Pizzini - Production Designer, Phedon Papamichael - Cinematographer, Brad Silberling - Producer, Julie Lynn - Producer, Lori McCreary - Producer, Robert Anderson - Sound/Sound Designer, Richard King - Sound/Sound Designer, Brad Silberling - Screenwriter, Richard King - Supervising Sound Editor

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