Nine

Before I get into my review of Nine, I want to express my prejudices going into the film and also tell you I did my best to disregard them at fade in as well as in writing this review.  I’m not a fan of musicals.  I’m also not a fan of theater being converted to the screen.  I believe there’s magic to theater. There’s a feeling of being present and physically experiencing a work of art as much as seeing it.  I grasped desperately for that magic in Nine, but, ultimately, I only came up with air as I simply did not feel the film.

This was not for a lack of trying by the filmmakers.  They assembled a superstar cast, including:  Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Marion Cotillard, and, yes, even Fergie!  Simply witnessing this eclectic ensemble almost makes the film worth seeing on its own.  I mean, when was the last time you even saw Sophia Loren act? (I think she may be the female version of Benjamin Button, by the way, because I swear she looks younger than she did in Grumpier Old Men… yes, that’s a Grumpier Old Men reference.)  However, in spite of the collective talent assembled, I couldn’t say it was really cast well.  These actors are Hollywood stars, but only one of them is Italian (Loren) and many of them make no attempt to even sound it, which really detracts from a film about the world’s most famous Italian director trying to make a film entitled, “Italia”.  That aside, the acting is good. It’s not any of these actors’ best performance, though.  (I’ll accept an argument for Penelope Cruz or Marion Cotillard.)

To further the level of grandeur of the movie, Director Rob Marshall infuses a big Broadway production feel into the film.  He does so with some magnificent shots, whether it is great use of contrast between dark and light or simply well framed, well-timed close-ups.  Further, he does a great job of showing the creative process at work within his main character’s (Contini) head by orchestrating elaborate daydreams and fantasies.  However, this proves to be a double-edged sword for me as, in staying true to a stage, Broadway feel, much of the direction results in boring wide shots that leave you wondering, ‘if I’m just getting a wide shot, why shouldn’t I just see this on Broadway?’  It’s not necessarily bad direction, just the cost of trying to bring Broadway to the screen.

As you’d expect in a glitzy Broadway production, as well, the film has its fair share of big, elaborate song and dance performances.  All of them are excellent for their production value. I especially thought Marion Cotillard’s songs (“Take It All” and “My Husband Makes Movies”) were both powerful and beneficial to the story’s progress.  However, there were way too many songs and I felt many songs, while good, sounded the same and only served the purpose of expressing an individual character’s thoughts or feelings (thoughts or feelings that just as easily could have been expressed with a line of dialogue or even a look).  That, or it was another lark into one of Contini’s procrastination induced fantasies. Either way, the sheer number of songs lessened each individual song’s impact for its respective character.  By this I mean, it didn’t seem like the progress of the story drove the character to explode into a frenzy of passionate song because there were so many songs that we knew there’d be one about every five minutes regardless of what happens.  It made the songs feel manufactured within the context of the film and removed some of the film’s genuineness. 

Maybe it’s because there really isn’t much of a plot at all.  The plot literally consists of a famous director given a deadline of ten days to write a script and just procrastinating and daydreaming instead.  There is not much character development or change in the story at all.  Rather, the film relies on these big song and dances performances to infuse some sort of feeling into the characters and the film.  I didn’t really buy it.

Ultimately, I feel this film has something missing (or several things missing).  Maybe there are too many songs or the songs are too long.  Maybe there are some key shots missing or key plot points missing.  Whatever the case is, I found myself thinking, “this should be good”, but not feeling it was, and isn’t that the point of great theater?  Again, I must reiterate, this is not my preferred genre and, although I attempted to withhold any prejudices I have against it, my prejudices could have influenced my analysis. (I mean, they are prejudices, isn’t that what they do?) If you are a fan of musicals and theater (and aren’t diehard enough to scoff at seeing it on screen) I think you’ll enjoy this film because it is very well done, both visually and auditorily.  However, don’t pick this up and expect to be engrossed by the story.

Scale: 

1-  Lots of Better Movies at Blockbuster   

2-  Might Be Worth Renting

3-  Rent It When You Get to It

4-  A Must Rent, at some point

5-  Put It in Your Queue NOW!

My Rating: 3


If you like this, check out:  8 1/2 (Single Disc Edition)

Buy Nine