Jared Mobarak Reviews "10 Commandments of Chloe"

Here is another awesome, in-depth review from Jared Mobarak of The 10 Commandments of Chloe. Check it out after the jump:

One of the great things about independent cinema is how filmmakers on a small budget can find themselves taking audiences to places studio projects have no interest in visiting. While Nashville, TN isn’t some hole-in-the-wall dump no one knows about—Robert Altman did make a movie there in the 70s and current pop culture seems to enjoy “Nashville” on TV after all—glimpsing the city through soundstages and glamour shots doesn’t equate to the street level personality endearing it to the common man. What about the no name transplants coming to break into a music industry with barely enough money to survive until the next day’s dive bar pleading for a chance on stage? What about the struggle of life and its emotional entanglements risking to distract from that path?


Directed by Princeton Holt from a screenplay he and his star Naama Kates wrote, The 10 Commandments of Chloe is an intimate look at regular people living the day-to-day. No one here is a superstar and no one truly aspires to be one—these are working artists who follow the music and not the money. Kates’ Chloe is introduced as a woman escaping into a brand new life of opportunity with no discernable past or interest in anything but the now. Hitting up bar after bar with a demo CD inquiring about booking protocol, she begins what could quite easily become a futile cycle of patronizing, disinterested faces. Her keyboard isn’t the most compact piece of equipment or this particular clientele’s normal Southern flavor either, so she has some work ahead.

Making the journey rougher is the reality that she isn’t the most gregarious newcomer these artistic types have ever seen. The charm is lathered on when meeting a player or owner at a venue, but that willingness to open up and be accessible is trapped behind a wall of jokes and sarcasm when her career is no longer the focal point of the conversation. Chloe is not the most likeable stranger in the room and the way she treats the one person who genuinely appears to want to get to know her does nothing to help. Brandon (Jason Burkey) is drawn to her mysterious air as flirty eyes and a wry smile beckon him closer to learn more despite it being obvious she has no desire to satisfy his curiosity.

Read the full review HERE.

- Lena