For those who found Krzysztof Kieslowski's classic treatment of the Ten Commandments, The Decalogue, to be a little light on sex humor, you now have an alternative with The Ten, an absurd, blasphemous, uneven, infantile and frequently very funny sketch comedy from the guys behind The State. Taking its cues from Kieslowski and Moses' stone tablets, the movie loosely uses the commandments as a starting point for sketches that illustrate the senselessness and inanity of the human experience.

When co-writers Ken Marino and David Wain (Wain directs) are cooking, which is about half the time, The Ten wields its bad taste like a blunt instrument, bludgeoning you with buffoonery that's hard to resist.

Take, for example, Commandment No. 1: Thou shalt not have any other gods before me. Wain and Marino interpret that by having nice guy Stephen (Adam Brody) going skydiving, forgetting his parachute and sticking waist-deep in a remote field. Stephen must stay where he is or die and becomes an overnight cult celebrity, getting his own sitcom and inspiring copycats to follow his example.

The movie rarely aims for that kind of cultural insight again, though the "coveting thy neighbor's house" segment with dueling suburban dads seeing who can accumulate the most CT scan machines comes close. Mostly, the filmmakers are just going after Python-esque silliness - the surgeon who leaves a scalpel in his patient ("it was just a goof") and the dad who bails on church to celebrate the body human (and Roberta Flack).

Paul Rudd introduces each segment and appears in the adultery sketch. Also on hand: Gretchen Mol as a virginal librarian who travels to Mexico and meets a Fabio-like Jesus (dig the Y Tu Mama Tambien narration) and one-time shoplifter Winona Ryder, artfully cast in the "thou shalt not steal" segment. That casting choice and Ryder's giddy willingness to put herself on the line almost compensate for the sketch's flat humor.

Even when The Ten doesn't work, its energy persuades you to act with Christian charity. And, after all, another commandment will be coming around the corner in no time flat.

The Ten

Skewering the Ten Commandments.

• Grade: B

• Rated: R

• Running time: 99 minutes