Ten blasphemous comedic stories inspired by the Biblical Commandments. Each tale unfolds in a different style, but with characters and themes that overlap, as told by a narrator who, in turn, has his own moral problems. - skip ad - Genres: Comedy and Politics/Religion Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min. Release Date: August 3rd, 2007 (limited) MPAA Rating: R for pervasive strong crude sexual content including dialogue and nudity, and for language and some drug material. Distributor: ThinkFilm Cast And Credits Starring: Jessica Alba, Adam Brody, Bobby Cannavale, Robert Corddry, Famke Janssen Directed by: David Wain Produced by: Danny Fisher, Michael Almog, Sam Zietz

With “The Ten,” David Wain uses the Ten Commandments the way a suicide uses a bridge. Stringing together a series of stone-tablet-based short films — from the gross to the surreal to the certifiably nuts — Mr. Wain, the writer and director of “Wet Hot American Summer,” repeats his strategy of aiming low and trusting in the higher power of genitalia.

Framed by Paul Rudd in the dual role of narrator and adulterer, the vignettes refer to their divine source, and one another, only tenuously. More drawn to the profane than to the sacred, Mr. Wain and his co-writer, Ken Marino, achieve periodic comic transcendence; a segment in which a virginal librarian (Gretchen Mol) finally gets it on with a Fabio-styled Mexican carpenter named Jesus (a marvelously deadpan Justin Theroux) would extract a smile from the pope himself.

A “Decalogue” for special-ed students, “The Ten” leans too often toward the bizarre and the bewildering. And though rough sex is a recurring motif, the movie’s overall tone is less blasphemous than raunchy.

Illustrating this with all the commitment of Meryl Streep in “Sophie’s Choice,” a possessed Winona Ryder stalks, steals and sweatily seduces a compliant ventriloquist’s dummy. As her segment is illustrating “Thou shalt not steal,” her enthusiasm is doubly commendable. JEANNETTE CATSOULIS.

“The Ten” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has prison sex, animated sex and the kind of close-ups normally reserved for medical professionals.