Product Details

• Actors: Aidan Quinn, Courteney Cox, Anthony LaPaglia, Shirl Bernheim, Peter Jacobson
• Directors: Daniel Taplitz
• Writers: Daniel Taplitz
• Producers: Daniel Goldberg, Ivan Reitman, Joe Medjuck, Jono Abrams, Michael Chinich
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: March 31, 1998
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783219431
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,977 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Aidan Quinn plays a man so aggrieved by his misfortunes that he vows to break each of God's Ten Commandments in revenge. But even that act of profound defiance doesn't quite work out the way he planned, and the character undergoes a mythic--some would say biblical--experience of a different kind. Quinn is fine, as is Anthony LaPaglia as his friend and Courteney Cox as a love interest. But the heavily stylized film by Daniel Taplitz makes puffery of the drama, and the atmosphere is more silly than smart. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Under-rated, August 15, 1999

By 

Kevin O'Conner - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Commandments [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Commandments is an unfairly overlooked movie. It didn't get a lot of promotion, and took a long time to come out on video at a sell-through price.

True, the lighter moments don't always sit well alongside the heavier moments, but the movie still holds together fairly well, even managing to make a few points along the way.

More importantly, unlike a lot of other movies these days, Commandments emotionally engages the viewer; you actually care what happens to the main characters.

Finally, the cinematography is fabulous. The film's visual tone is arguably the central element that holds everything else together - but it does so without overwhelming everything else.

Neither light comedy nor heavy drama, Commandments is the kind of movie that will have you wondering why you didn't see it sooner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and interesting, March 3, 2002

By 

Mari - See all my reviews

This review is from: Commandments [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Seth (Aidan Quinn) is in a bad way. His pregnant wife drowned a year ago, his house has been demolished in a tornado, and he's lost his job. "Why, God?" he asks. God responds with a carefully aimed lightning bolt which not only hits Seth, but also manages to maim his pet dog.

Homeless and jobless, Seth goes to stay with his late wife's sister, Rachel (Courteney Cox) and her no-good husband, Harry (Anthony LaPaglia). And Harry's collection of priceless guitars. We know that Harry is no good because the first time we see him, he's cheating on Rachel with gusto. Seth is lost and confused - why has God chosen to punish him, a good, loyal, hard-working religious man, rather than someone like, say, Harry? Not only is he confused, he's getting pretty angry. So he makes up his mind to break each of the Ten Commandments, one by one.

"Commandments" raises some interesting questions - very few of which it actually manages to answer. Most of the time, it doesn't even make an attempt at this. Rather than trying to figure out exactly *why* God is punishing Seth, it turns into a comedy as Seth wife-covets, ignores the Sabbath and blasphemes his way across the screen. More interesting than Seth is Harry, who is nasty in a refreshingly human way, while Courteney Cox as Rachel is lovely, but more than a little distant.

The characters and their dilemmas are somewhat inaccessible; we end up not caring about them as much as we should, I guess. A lot of the scenes seem illogical, and the cold blue sets do their part in cutting off the audience. However it's a lot more quirky and off-beat than most of the comedies in circulation at the moment. Keep an eye out for it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not recommended for religious people with no sense of humor, March 29, 2000

By 

Jill - See all my reviews

This review is from: Commandments [VHS] (VHS Tape)

But still good for the open-minded! I guess I should say you shouldn't see this movie unless you are a big fan of one of the cast members. The characters could have been developed better and the movie could have been longer (it is about an hour and a half). But still, it's a good movie to see if you like dark comedy, and I mean really, really dark. I myself liked it a lot; however, it is pretty strange and the ending could have been much, much better. Harry is a rather static character that you will probably hate, unless you love Anthony LaPaglia, and Sparky the dog is an added bonus. Rent this movie - you may regret it, but you probably won't.