Thousands of years ago — ages before Scientology, Mormonism and even Christianity were established — Moses stood atop Mount Sinai and delivered God's Ten Commandments to the hedonistic crowd of the briefly freed Hebrew slaves below. The world, of course, is no stranger to these ten rules of morality — Hollywood has explored these religious laws thoroughly with tones ranging from Charlton Heston's dramatic adaptation in "The Ten Commandments" to Mel Brooks' comedic "interpretation" in "The History of the World: Part I."

Now, from the minds of comedy's two most up-and-coming stars, David Wain and Ken Marino, comes "The Ten," the newest and most innovative Biblical Hollywood interpretation of Hollywood Biblical interpretations yet. Despite taking the form of ten separate, yet interweaving, modern vignettes, however, the film is anchored on the Ten Commandments in literal, newly minted, form.

But religious zealots, evangelists and pious Mass attendees be warned — "The Ten" reveals itself to be irreverent, and hilarious, to at least the same-numbered degree.

From the moment the bombastic score blasts through the theater's speakers and the image of the two stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments appear against the black screen, "The Ten" promises to be a movie of grand proportions.

This grandeur is singular in moment, however — with the help of director David Wain's ("Wet Hot American Summer") subtle humor and careful cues, the narrator Jeff Riegert's (Paul Rudd) marital bickering upstage the score as well as the giant tablets behind him. Wain's sure-handed directing is evident here, but his focus and creativity are not limited to the opening, it's found in every facet of the film: from the painting of the Jesus character from "The Lord's Name in Vain" in the funeral parlor during "Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother" to the ingenious compounding of blended family and afterschool special clichés in the fourth vignette. It is small touches like these that truly bring the film to life and reveal Wain as an alert film director.

Wain's intelligence also shows in the script, on which he collaborated with fellow Comedy Central alum and member of "The Ten" cast, Ken Marino. Here again, the two men add slight, farcical touches that enhance the twisted plot as well as the film's many actors. In the first vignette, "Take No Gods Before Me," Kelly LaFonda (Winona Ryder) breaks up the flow of an otherwise dramatic scene with the utterance of the word "Reawwy."

The script, however, also has its moments of raunchy, over-the-top toilet humor. The second vignette, with its telenovella score and acting style, is propelled by an impure, insatiably lusty Jesus Christ and a narrator seemingly obsessed with speaking the word "vagina."

But, even a sex-crazed savior cannot contend with the smut aptly found in "Shalt Not Commit Adultery." In this seventh vignette, LaFonda engages in a sordid affair with a ventriloquist dummy. Yet, LaFonda's request to see the dummy's "hard wooden cock" is not nearly as disturbing as the sex scenes that come with the affair. Concepts like the pooping Lyin' Rhino' from "Shalt Not Bear False Witness Against Thy Neighbor," though childish and worthy of "South Park," perfectly offset the director's witty script and even bring to life the more serious actors from the film's all-star cast.

Despite the ludicrous, wafer-thin plot and sometimes juvenile humor, most members of the cast take the raunch in stride. Ryder excels at portraying the twisted sex-freak newlywed in the seventh vignette, while Liev Schreiber beautifully captures the gruff, competitive nature of a man trying to keep up with the cat-scan purchasing Jonses' in "Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Goods." Not all cast members, however, pull off this ham-fisted, high-school-theater-production style of acting. Jessica Alba goes too far in capturing the ditsy character of Paul Rudd's girlfriend, Liz, whereas Rudd fails to grow into his troubled character until 30 minutes into the film.

Stale acting aside, Wain's "The Ten" excels in everything else — from his keen directing to his carefully crafted script to an all-star cast. It may not be a movie to watch with the family every Easter, but it's perhaps the freshest and certainly the most amusing interpretation of the Ten Commandments yet. Charlton Heston, eat your heart out.

4 stars out of 5.