Filmmaker Ken Marino is breaking whatever stone tablets Moses forgot about with The Ten, a new comedy from the hilarity team "The State."
"(The Ten) is just a big, broad, silly, raunchy adult comedy," said Marino. It is a collection of ten different stories, each themed off of one of the Ten Commandments.
Marino, who also co-wrote the screenplay with director David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer), plays Glenn Ritchie, a murderous doctor. The actor, along with the rest of the film's players, appears in more than one of the overlapping tales, holding down meaty roles in the Thou Shalt Not Murder and Thou Shalt Not Covet My Neighbor's Wife tales.
Acting alongside Marino are the likes of Jessica Alba (Good Luck Chuck), Paul Rudd (Knocked Up) and Winona Ryder (A Scanner Darkly). Yet, despite the large, A-list cast and religious overtones, it seems that this State-inspired comedy is nothing but a big goof aimed at the college demographic.
"I think (college-age audiences) are exactly what this is built for," Marino said. "We're not trying to teach any lessons," he continued, doing his best to dispel any idea that The Ten's Bible-inspired themes are anything more than jumping-off points for the style of comedy that fans of The State have become accustomed to.
Established in 1988, the comedy group formed and collaborated first at New York University, where all of the team's founding members were attending.
"David (Wain) and I were founding members of The State," Marino said, an acting major during his days at NYU. Since their founding nearly 20 years ago, the group held a show on MTV, billed CBS television presentations and toured sold-out campus comedy shows.
In 1997, The State disbanded, each player going off in their own direction, while not straying too far from origins established while they were in college.
"We've always remained friends and we've been working throughout the years together," Marino said, when asked about the makeshift State reunion taking place this year via cinema, with nearly all of the State players appearing in both The Ten and Reno 911: Miami.
This resurgence comes at an interesting time for film comedy, offering something different than the new-age frat-boy antics of Knocked Up and Superbad.
"I think the Apatow comedy is much more grounded in reality," Marino said, referring to Judd Apatow, director of Knocked Up.
"Our style is more absurd, not as grounded. We intentionally break rules," Marino said. "Because of the ridiculous story lines in The Ten, what we tried to do was shoot the movie seriously."
Treating it as a downplayed style only further accents the insanity of the action.
Reminiscent of the comedies from writer/director, Wain and Marino are two of a consistent group of filmmakers used in several projects, from Wet Hot American Summer to The Ten. Where this group differs from Guest and company is, in their recent attempt at drama (in the form of the film Diggers) a small, independent piece starring Paul Rudd and written by Marino, who also co-stars.
"I thought it would be interesting to cast the same players in something more dramatic; a different approach to these great actors," Marino said, referring to Diggers, his first screenplay.
The independent film, released earlier this year, presents just one of many different directions in which this group of talented comedians could go.
From a "pure, straightforward 1970s horror movie" in the works, written by Marino, to a strictly State movie, there is a lot on the plate for the future.
"The Ten was originally going to be a State movie," Marino said, still hoping for strictly State cinema, but unable to give an official statement on its progression into a reality.
At the interview's end, like so many State skits, there was an awkward silence. "Should we add some more fart jokes into this interview?" Marino asked. With that kind of easygoing attitude, there's no reason to think The Ten shouldn't make breaking the rules the biggest trend since Facebook.
The Ten is currently in limited release.
E-mail: spectrum-arts@buffalo.edu
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
