One usually thinks of Morgan Freeman as a very serious actor, a stone-faced performer from such solemn projects as Million Dollar Baby and Glory. In  10 Items or Less, that image of Freeman will only increase the surprise of seeing him in his most light-hearted film to date. While playing like a bubblier take on Richard Linklater's Before Sunrise, 10 Items or Less retains a slight comical edge without ever losing its intelligence or humanistic grasp of the main characters.

Freeman portrays a nameless actor with the moniker of "Him" in the ending credits. As our story begins, Him hasn't worked on a movie in four years, and his mild stab at a comeback is a bit part as a grocery store manager in a teensy independent production. Thus, he's dropped off at a neighborhood supermarket in the middle of Los Angeles to do research. What he finds is a pretty lifeless joint, with the exception of Scarlet (Paz Vega), a spirited young woman who commands the "10 items or less" lane. Sensing that she's as bored with her current situation as he is with his, our hero  strikes up an impromptu friendship with Scarlet that spans the rest of the day and strengthens as the duo goes from visiting Scarlet's no-good husband (Bobby Cannavale) to Him discovering the low-priced wonders of a Target store for the first time.

10 Items or Less may not sound like the most active movie on the shelf, but the story works a certain magic on the viewer, the same sort of magic that propelled other films (such as Elephant or Glengarry Glen Ross) whose cinematic brilliance depended more upon dialogue and interactions than on action-packed events. 10 Items or Less presents a simple story about two random people who run into one another, and that's all it runs with. There are no grand, philosophical meditations on life or love, just some dude and some gal just hanging out for a little while. It's a real slice of life, a pretention-free tale about a chance meeting of strangers who realize they'll probably never see each other again and whose only common thread is how different they are from one another.

This is the sort of film that could tip into boredom, but writer/director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) finds an almost perfectly balanced sense of storytelling, taking the plot, which is essentially a glorified "to-do" list (prepare for a job interview, stop by the store, etc.), and turning it into an immensely enjoyable fable about two people learning not to be so jaded about life.

What makes 10 Items or Less click so well is the natural quality of the leading performances. Freeman is absolutely top-notch, projecting much warmth and subtle hilarity here as the nameless actor, who delights in coaxing Scarlet to get her act together and is downright amazed at how Target can maintain such low prices. Vega (also pitch-perfect in the underrated Spanglish) provides a perfect partner-in-crime, a fiery woman who knows how to take charge at work but has a little more difficulty doing so in her personal life. One of my few complaints involves the lack of much insight into Freeman's character. We can tell he's not proud of some past accomplishments by the way he keeps hiding one of his old movies in a recurring gag, but as far as development goes, Silberling's script barely lets us peek through the front door when even waiting in the foyer would do just fine.

A tiny gem of an overlooked film, 10 Items or Less is a treasure filled with light dashes of comedy, realistic performances, and a fine message that isn't bashed upside the viewer's head. 

MY RATING: *** 1/2 (out of ****)

(Released by THINKFilm and rated "R" for language.)