Movie review - Ten Tricks

Ten Tricks ** (out of five) (NR) This one’s a real head-scratcher for several reasons. The title refers to two kinds of tricks – bordello business and a magician’s act – woven together in a sequence of overlapping snippets. Then, casting against type, the madame of the former is played by the chronically (in a good way) wholesome Lea Thompson (you know, Marty McFly’s mom; Caroline in the City, etc.), who could still play a cute ingenue at 60. And it’s shot in black-and-white with a mostly unfamiliar cast (some of whom play multiple roles) by a first-time feature writer/director (Richard Pagano), apparently on a budget that limited craft services to everyone brown-bagging it. The script mixes comic elements with a lot of sadness and frustration surrounding the assortment of sexual transactions we see.

The hookers (several women and one guy) are shown sympathetically, mostly enduring the whims and kinks of their patrons, and the disdain of society in general for their career choice. Thompson is fed up with her lot in life and has decided to have a baby with any guy who can deliver promising genetic traits. The magician (Albie Selznick, who really is one in addition to his many acting gigs) is even more tired of endlessly trotting out his tricks, as shown in his nihilistic performance patter. Others depict a fairly full spectrum of life’s vicissitudes and coping mechanisms, mixing wry humor with pathos – more of the latter than the former. There is enough nudity (mostly topless women) and sexual activity to warrant an R rating, but there’s nothing particularly lurid about the context.

The film seems longer than its 88 minutes because it plays hopscotch among many encounters, in and out of the sack, without adding up to any conclusions. The script is as adrift as most of the people within it. That may be intentional, but it falls short on storytelling. It’s like walking through a gallery, seeing paintings that each provide some moment of meaning or emotional impact, but don’t add up to a whole of anything. As long as you’re ready for sequential slices of life without the customary thematic convergence most films provide, you might enjoy what they’re offering on their terms.

(Ten Tricks is available on Digital and streaming exclusively on Fandor as of September 27, 2022)