Nine

I was surprised when Rob Marshall's Chicago took home the Oscar for Best Picture. A great movie but not my choice for best of 2002 (that I would award to Gangs of New York). All that aside, Marshall hasn't done much since. Only one movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, which I for some reason have neglected to see (I try to watch films that win for best cinematography). That's all beside the point. In his third film, Marshall goes back to his theatre roots and tackles another musical. This time he has chosen Nine, a re-imagining of Federico Fellini's classic film 8 1/2. Already I am skeptical of the situation. I am fine with musicals. Some of the best films on celluloid have been musicals. What I have a problem with is the reworking of such a classic film like 8 1/2. It would take a lot of convincing to win me over. Unfortunately, it did not succeed. Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Guido Contini, an Italian director who is planning on making the most important Italian film ever call Italia. The only problem is he hasn't written a script yet. To guide him he turns to the women in his life. His late mother (Sofia Loren), his wife Marion Cotillard, his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer and closest friend (Judi Dench), a fashion reporter (Kate Hudson), a childhood temptress Saraghina (Stacey "Fergie" Ferguson) and his leading lady (Nicole Kidman). Contini tries to escape the pressure looming overhead by the media, his producers, and his cast and crew. He is constantly searching for the answer, bouncing around from one person to another. That's really all there is. He talks to people, sleeps around, and goes into his past. Right off the bat there is a slight problem. There are too many women! Not just for Contini but for the audience. There are too many big name actresses with almost equal parts. Who is more important? Who should we side with? It seems like he has such a close relationship with some of them and hardly any with others, yet they all practically get the same amount of screen time. They all have at least one song to their own. That is another problem with the film. The musical aspect is distracting from the story. The music for the most part is average. A few songs like "Be Italian" and the Oscar nominated "Take it All" are very good, but for the most part, it's all bells and whistles. Like he did with Chicago, Marshall takes us from the real world of dialogue to the imaginary world of singing and dancing. My issue with this is that he spends an almost equal amount of time in both places. With Chicago, there was more story divulged in the real world. Nine has too much singing and not enough story telling. The musical numbers are impressive, in particular the two songs I mentioned. Fergie really flexes the golden pipes with "Be Italian," a fun and sexy number that for me was the highlight of the film. Cotillard's number was also one of the better ones. This was a more emotional struggle and was one of the few numbers I felt really connected with the story. Kidman and Cruz each have decent numbers, and Dench's number is a bit over the top. She is better with the real world scenes. I guess Marshall tried to replicate what he did with Chicago but came up short. I never was invested with any of the characters and Lewis' performance was not quite what I was looking for. I would have loved to have seen Raul Julia, the original Guido Contini from the first Broadway production, or even Antonio Banderas in the revival. I think someone with a more musical background would have been a more acceptable choice, but nevertheless, Lewis does a fairly decent job.

What is the point of making a film like this? A pretentious film director is uninspired to write a decent film, and ultimately fails. How clever and ironic that the film itself mirrors this! In order to find inspiration, he looks to the women in his life, while they spring into song wearing basques and corsets. All the songs sound the same. Nothing happens. The end. I'm sticking my neck out here. I'll be chastised for criticising such a successful Broadway musical, with such a great cast. Don't get me wrong - the 1 star for this film is solely for Day Lewis - the man can act. It looks fairly nice as well It doesn't stop this film being pointless, pretentious, nauseous drivel. I can't remember any of the songs from the film, because they are completely dull, lifeless, pointless songs. 1/10 - AVOID. (Even though you'll all disagree with me - I stand by my opinion!)

This is, easily, one of the worst movies I've ever seen. Really... what's with all this great cast to a plot that doesn't exist? The movie deals with the drama of a filmmaker who ran out of ideas for his next movie. Well, I think "Nine" is this film. There's no story, no script, no ideas. It's a silly and presumptuous musical that makes you leave the movie theater feeling ashamed. Why did Kate Hudson say "yes" to this part? She's totally out of context here, she doesn't even know what she's doing. Her musical performance is pitiful and I almost prayed it ended as quick as it could. As for the songs... all awful. "Cinema Italiano" makes you feel you're being stabbed in the ears. In general, all songs are bad, except for the one that's sung by Luisa. Penelope Cruz and Sophia Loren make good appearances, but they're both too good to be here. This movie does not deserve them. Or Judi Dench. Or Nicole Kidman (by the way, what happened to her lips???). I left the movies feeling like an idiot. This movie is an offense.

I could honestly say that walking out of "Nine" I felt more conflicted over what I thought of the movie than I have in years. The film can be reviewed in two aspects though, its performances and its story, so I'll dissect those. Performances: Let me first say that no actress delivered any less than they possibly could, and you could tell that the cast had worked their butts off during production. The Great- Marion Cotillard in particular delivered what is sure to be one of the most understated performances in recent memory, as well as delivering the two most powerful and emotional numbers in the show. Penelope Cruz was SEXY, and as her character's story was wrapped up she beautifully portrayed a "mistreated mistress," so to speak. Judi Dench was fantastic as the background player in Guido's career, perfectly delivering wit while supporting her friend. Most importantly, these three worked so well because they were interlinked in each other's story, and as a result their plot lines flowed well into each other. The OK- DDL and Sophia Loren were fine in their parts, simply filling out their roles and not seriously improving on or dragging down the movie in any way. The Misused- Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, and Fergie were all criminally misused, although fantastic when on the screen. All three had stories that didn't synch with the movie, whether they be Kidman (who honestly needed a more fleshed out role that came in contact w/ other characters other than just Guido), Hudson (whose number really felt like it would have made more sense in the beginning of the movie), or Fergie ("Be Italian" felt shoehorned in and disconnected, and would have been a perfect opener or closing number). All three felt particularly disconnected from the film. I can honestly say that not one of the players in Marshall's cast disappointed, but it was Marshall himself and the messy script (irony!) that jumbled up the movie and left me with a very disjointed, disconnected result. Each scene was Oscar-worthy, but they were only partially threaded together into a cohesive story.

Let's just start by saying this: Nine is one of the best of 2009. Not to be confused with District 9 and 9, Rob Marshall does a splendid job bringing the Broadway musical of the same title to the screen. The whole main cast is great at acting as well as singing. The movie is also an adaptation of Federico Fellini's 8 1/2 and it's a nice homage to that as well. My only criticism of Nine is that it has a very loose plot. The small plot that is present is still quite good. It follows Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), an aging director who has reached a breaking point in his life when he realizes everything is spiraling out of control. His movies have turned bad over the last few years and he is hopelessly in love with nine women who very important to him. The female cast includes his wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his costume designer (Judi Dench), a prostitute from his childhood (Fergie), an American fashion designer (Kate Hudson), his muse (Nicole Kidman), and his mother (Sophia Loren). The film also marks one of Anthony Minghella's last screenplays. Though the cast is mostly responsible for why the movie is so great, it's also Rob Marshall's direction. Anyone who has seen Chicago will know that his type of movie involves sexy women writhing and twisting as the dance (and not in a bad way). Nine is quite similar, but Nine made me feel as though I was actually sitting in a Broadway theater watching a Broadway musical. Anthony Minghella's snappy script, the art direction, and the cinematography are just some of the things that make Nine such a sensory overload. Marshall also even brings the cast out at the end for bows. The most important thing in movie musicals is the singing and dancing. Nobody needs to be worried about these things in Nine. Every cast member sings and dances beautifully with the exception of Kate Hudson whose voice is unfortunately changed for the trailer. Daniel Day-Lewis is a surprisingly good singer and dances pretty nicely too. The two great numbers are "Be Italian" and "A Call to the Vatican". Fergie totally rocks her number in which she plays an overweight prostitute and Penelope Cruz blew me away with her sexy number involving a striptease. Yet it really is Marion Cotillard who "takes it all" (no pun intended). I've been watching Marion Cotillard since she first starred in La Vie En Rose and it's fortunate that she's finally begun to star in big movies. Hopefully she'll get more recognition now. The bottom line is Nine is great. Though the film does get a bit tiresome midway through, the songs are energetic and make you remember why you love it. Rob Marshall does a great job directing his stars and the art direction and cinematography are sure to win some awards. Every actor who is part of the main cast sings well and the choreography is very nice. Rob Marshall has done it again with Nine and I totally look forward to seeing it take home awards on Oscar night.

Where do I begin? I scoffed at the people leaving the cinema after only 5 minutes. "Uncultured fools", I thought. Only afterwards did I realise that they were the lucky ones: I lost two hours of my life (and maybe more) being exposed to this utter rubbish. As a musical, the best parts (and I use the term "best" very loosely here) of this film are when the cast aren't screeching out an unmemorable number. Seriously, you won't remember any of it other than the "Guido! Guido! Guido!" ringing in your ears. Even having Penelope Cruz's scantily-covered crotch thrust into your face didn't improve things. The rest of the "all star" cast doesn't fair much better: Sophia Loren looks like an extra-terrestrial (no doubt from having one face-stretch too many), Daniel Day-Lewis is forgettable and is upstaged by his car (which, seriously, is the only interesting showpiece in the entire film), Nicole Kidman does practically nothing, Judy Dench is in her typical mother-hen role, and Fergie (who is apparently not the ex-member of the British Royal Family but a member of the Black Eyed Peas) I can't remember seeing. Must have slept through her performance, but presumably it must have been better than the rest since it didn't wake me up with its sheer awfulness. How this film garnered no less than 5 Golden Globe nominations is a complete mystery. Even the cast members interviewed on Larry King looked bewildered - they must have been as surprised as I would have been if I had seen this mess. It's rare that I feel the need to write a review. However, in this case I think I need to do so if only to save people from spending their money to watch this tripe. It certainly goes on my list of all-time worst movies that I've ever seen, along with Speed 2, and The Blair Witch Project. Rob Marshall has a lot to answer to for this crime against cinema - and for that matter, humanity.

Lots of money spent giving incredibly beautiful visuals with some extraordinary performances by a stellar cast, in this monotonous dull and lifeless movie. What a shame. The cast obviously poured their hearts out, and worked their asses off. The production design and cinematography are award worthy. The directing is absolutely horrendous. Atrocious. Horrible. Hey Rob, where you put the camera is really important. I couldn't see inside any of these characters! I never felt sympathetic, empathetic, or even slightly connected to any of these characters. Sad, cause the actors brought it. The movie never showed it to the audience. When Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) kneels at his Mother's (Sophia Loren) feet and admits his faults, we see his hair back-lit. I will bet had the camera actually looked into his eyes we might have had something there. One hour and forty five minutes into the movie, the conflict with the wife happened. Finally some real drama. Had that been the first scene I might have decided to care about this man's journey. Kate Hudson's number was the highlight of the film, although completely disconnected from the story. But then again, everything is disconnected. And there really is no story. And making a film with an Italian sensibility in the English language is probably an impossibility. Remember when they dubbed "La Vita e Bella" into English? That, like Fellini's work was beautiful in Italian. It sucked in English. I say, leave the making of Italian films to Italian filmmakers. Uhhhgggg. Thanks for the free screening, But I sincerely wish I could have those two hours back.

If you are fan of musicals i can understand you really liking this movie, but in my opinion is Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Penélope Cruz giving great performances with good coreography and a lot other things you can expect from a musical with this budget, visually is very well done, but the story is weak and some scenes fails on trying to being funny.

When I first found out that Rob Marshall was going to be making a movie version of Nine I was very excited because I knew he would be the best person to direct it because he could easily relate to the protagonist with his experience as a well known director and a women enthusiast. Also as a director he uses very creative imagery and elaborate sets to tell the story of a very specific situation, instead of just a broad scenario that happens everyday. I particularly love this style because I hate stories that I've already seen and heard a million times. Because i felt this way about it i was shocked to hear that such a large majority of critic's thought it was so mediocre and I became hesitant to see it in fear of disappointment. Well, I did see it and let me tell you, there was nothing mediocre about it. It was a phenomenal movie. The dances and songs were beautiful, creative and very well performed. The storyline was very fresh and it kept the viewer interested in what Guido would do next because he was such a dynamic character. The women in his life were perfectly cast and fantastically played, especially Marion Cotillard, whom I had never heard of before this movie; it's fair to say she totally rocked her role instilling in me emotions that I never even knew I had. Penelope was ridiculously sexy yet still made the viewer empathize with her character. Nicole Kidman was great as the self-confident and inspiring muse. Daniel Day-Lewis was very believable in his role as the immature child trapped inside the older man's body named Guido, as his life spins out of control as reality finally begins to catch up with him. The main problem that critics had with this movie was that it wasn't like Fredrico Fellini's 8 1/2 on which nine was based but they shouldn't be comparing the two. This is a whole new movie and should be viewed for what it is and to me Nine is the most entertaining movie of the year and I am looking forward to seeing it again.

Guido Contini, a famous Italian director, is struggling with his next big film. He has no script and no inspiration, but everyone is counting on him. He tries to juggle both his new film, his wife, his mistress, his producer and his muse. Oh yeah, he also talks to his dead mother. Nine is an ambitious film, I'll give it that. Rob Marshall, the director of the Best Picture winner Chicago serves up a mix bag with Nine. The film feels like Marshall is trying to rekindle the magic he had with Chicago, he comes up short, specifically with the musical numbers. For everything that I liked about it, there were two things I didn't. Nine needs to be more focused and shorter for it to be a film I would recommend. The film is about film-making, yet the way Marshall presents the film to us is in the style of a stage play. Everything from the set-pieces to lighting screams stage play. It was an interesting touch, but felt out of place because it dealt with the art of film-making so much. The musical numbers, all uninspiring and rather boring, even attest to this. With the exception of Fergie, who gives us the best song and dance number that uses sand in a creative way, all the other numbers are generic and rather 'not good'. When you have a Grammy winner singing a song and then have Kate Hudson sing one, there is a difference, and it is more noticeable than the filmmakers might have wanted. Nine has a great cast, most of them are Oscar winners too. Daniel Day Lewis, with an amazing Italian accent, is the obvious stand out. He plays sexy and stressed all in one look. Penelope Cruz is the mistress, who has the sexiest scene of this movie, her career and this year. Her work in this film is pretty basic, the other lover who wants to be the one loved. With the exception of DDL, the only other actor that is given any kind of emotional depth is Marion Cotillard. She has to go through the realization that her husband is cheating on her and make the choice to stay or leave. Everyone else is pretty much there to fill up time and sing their one song. Judie Dench is the fashion designer and she plays a motherly figure, whereas Sophia Loren plays his actual mother, well his dead mother, but he still sees and talks to her. Fergie has her one scene in which she steals the show with her tune and then Nicole Kidman turns up at the end and makes you wince with her accent. Don't get me started on Kate Hudson. The problem is that these are good actors, with just no material to work with. Daniel Day Lewis is great, but he's a hard character to connect with, he's sleeping around with a lot of women, it feels like half the cast. Emotional scenes don't play out as well as they should and the film drags itself to the finish line near the end. I found myself wanting it to end sooner and sooner, but it kept going. On the plus side, the choreography is great and the cinematography really grabs you, even if it is a little misplace with it's stage feel. The film is well put together and the editing is well done. It weaves it's story in and out of timelines from Guido's life, during the musical numbers. The film isn't bad, but it didn't do anything for me either. Leaving a musical not tapping your toes or even remembering the tunes may be a bad sign. I liked it enough to give it a good rating, the cast and style are good enough for me to do so, but everything else makes me lean on the side of telling you to rent this. It's well made, but has no real heart and the film is a little on the long side, you may be checking your watch.