The life lessons to be taken from the checkout line at a grocery store are not quite as deep as director Brad Silberling seems to think.

The unnamed actor played by Morgan Freeman in “10 Items or Less” has come to Archie’s Ranch Market to research the part of store manager in an independent film that he is considering. Mr. Freeman’s character, loosely based on himself, ventures into the Carson, Calif. grocery store and is impressed by Scarlet (Paz Vega), a beautiful and efficient checkout girl in the “10 Items or Less” line.

The two form a temporary and mutually beneficial friendship, due more to the insistence of Mr. Silberling’s script than any natural affinity on their parts. Mr. Freeman’s character — identified in the credits as “Him” — is attempting a return to acting after a four-year break. He is easing into the process with what his driver refers to as the”cinematic blow—” of an independent film.

According to this theory, his career could get a big boost if the film is well received, but if it fails, there’s no real damage done. This embarrassing metaphor, which is but one of the awkward poses Mr. Freeman tries to bear with grace, also seems to guide “10 Items or Less.” The film talks about risks, but there seems to be little at stake here. The social commentary is trite and the humor often forced; a recurring joke involves Mr. Freeman’s character’s habit of appearing in movies alongside Ashley Judd.

And true to the metaphor, the amusement seems to be one-sided. Mr. Freeman seems completely amused by the cultural divide humor that he partakes in here, but he is given far too little with which to entertain the audience. Though we are to believe that “Him” has no real friends, he makes a habit of charming everyone he encounters. And while there are moments of levity, for the most part “10 Items or Less” cannot evade its self-conscious premise.

Mr. Freeman’s character gets abandoned at the grocery store, and because he is too famous to remember anyone’s phone number or carry cash, he must trail Scarlet as she completes the mundane tasks of her day. Each scene is a set piece meant to teach one of them — or, bonus, sometimes both! — a life lesson, but the actors are usually too trapped by the stiff scene structure and paltry dialogue to impart much of anything.

Mr. Freeman is almost always a pleasure to watch on-screen, and though he tries his best to play along here, there isn’t much interesting about the out-of-touch Hollywood celebrity he is given. Furthermore, Mr. Freeman is such a soothing and trustworthy presence on screen — he is set to reprise his role as God in “Evan Almighty” next summer — that it is often difficult to believe that “Him” isn’t just playing arrogant to tease Scarlet.

For her part, Ms. Vega’s “feisty checkout clerk” takes the bait. Scarlet is a little too perfect to be in the dead-end store, dead-end marriage, and dead-end polyester vest from which Mr. Freeman rescues her, but she has a natural charm that often manages to eclipse the ethnic stereotyping of her English-speaking roles. Ms. Vega, who was one of the best things about the Adam Sandler vehicle, “Spanglish,” comes across as a talented, Hispanic version of Winona Ryder. Her skill as an actor seems far more suitable to English than that of Penélope Cruz, the other crossover Spanish star to whom she is often compared.

It can be pleasant to watch Mr. Freeman and Ms. Vega interact, and more often than not, it is Ms. Vega who carries the scenes. But the plot rests on the assumption that the hardworking, lower-class checkout girl and the snobbish actor have much to learn from each other. Sadly, the script never quite fills that in.

Mr. Silberling, who has directed such Hollywood pictures as “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” and “Moonlight Mile,” seems to think that the secret to independent filmmaking is gritty camera work and the insistent focus on one predictable premise. But the amusement to be gained from the strictness of the 10-item lane at the grocery store — “where checkers come to die” — cannot sustain an entire film. “10 Items or Less” seems empty and stretched at 82 minutes.

Rather than finding the meaningful in the mundane, Mr. Silberling has made a mostly boring picture and relegated his most amusing moments to the closing credits.”10 Items or Less”turns out to be just what Mr. Freeman’s character is researching in the film — an independent film (starring two talented actors) whose lack of success can be easily ignored.

mkeane@nysun.com