10 Items or Less, He Said

It is true that every story is a journey and in this journey we find two unlikely people discovering each other and themselves simultaneously as they move along.

Morgan Freeman ( Morgan Freeman) playing an actor down on his luck and lost, (If he were a writer we'd say he was blocked.), is researching a role as a grocery store manager in a small independent film. Dropped off in a Hispanic ghetto neighborhood by an unreliable set gopher, Freeman ends up stranded and under the spell of the clerk who checks at the ten items or less counter.

Her name is Scarlet ( Paz Vega). She is a young women who has been relegated to this life by life and who is trying to break out. She alternates between fits of anger and determination and resentment and frustration. Her anger immobilizes her, her determination keeps her going. What she lacks is confidence and some basic skills. Freeman provides the coaching and the resources

What your realize very quickly is that as down and out as Freeman is, he could hook this gal up with even a shitty small little job in show business and she would be off and running. she's smart efficient and good looking. But that would be to easy. Instead he takes her through the paces. He makes her think about how she dresses. He coaches her on presentation. He prepares her for the road blocks and most of all, he shows her that no matter how much he believes in her it's worthless unless she believes in herself. And that of course is the crux of his problem.

Freeman appears as the epitome of self confidence and cool, but he's also an actor, and while his demeanor is practiced and nuanced, it's all all show. Scarlet, once she gets her head out in the open where she can use it to think, begins to realize that he is almost as lost as she is.

With witty dialogue and real feeling these two desperate people reach out to each other providing the proverbial helping hand. Their relationship is sweet and compelling. You get the feeling that there could be something more for the couple if they stayed together, but it wouldn't be real and it wouldn't be long before they realized it wouldn't work. So if your looking for the ride into the sunset hand in hand, you'll get it, but it just won't be at the end of the film