Nine

The movie version of the musical "Nine" (based on Fellini's 8-1/2) was released in 2009 with a wonderful cast that included Daniel Day-Lewis as Guido, Marion Cotillard as his wife Luisa, Penelope Cruz as his mistress Carla, Kate Hudson as a reporter, Judy Dench as his costumer, Nicole Kidman as his muse Claudia, Fergie as a woman on the beach, and Sophia Loren as his mother.

I am at a disadvantage because I didn't see the musical, but quite a bit was cut from the score, which is a shame. The music is wonderful and probably was meant to be sung a little better than it was in the film.

"Nine" is the story of a great filmmaker, Guido Contini, who is about to make another film but doesn't actually have another one. His life is a mess - a wife, a mistress, no script, and no inspiration. He has to come to grips with his immaturity, his women, and with the reality of his life before he can move on.

Each of Guido's women has a song that expresses her feelings, the most famous of which is "Phone Call from the Vatican," sung by Carla (Cruz). This number was performed by the late Anita Morris on stage and considered very risqué. For me, the best filmed number in the whole film was "Cinema Italiano," done by Kate Hudson, and Judi Dench does a great job with the "Folies Bergere" number. "Unusual Way" is perhaps the prettiest song in the score, and that was done by Nicole Kidman.

We don't get much of a chance to know the women in Guido's life with the exception of Luisa (Cotillard) who gives a lovely, gentle performance as a woman who loves her husband but is continually hurt by him, and Carla, who despite her overt sexiness, is actually very fragile. And we get to know Lilli, the costumer, who knows Guido very well indeed and is the voice of reason.

The movie is pretty to look at, and the women are absolutely stunning, particularly Cotillard, Kidman, and Cruz, who looked like goddesses. Daniel Day-Lewis lived in Italy for a while and his accent is excellent. He's handsome and sexy, possibly more introverted than one of the stage Guidos - Raul Julia, Antonio Banderes, Sergio Franchi, or John Stamos.

Since this film moves slowly in parts, it's curious that so many songs were left out.

In the final analysis, though I liked parts of "Nine," I think it's too theatrical a show to lend itself to film. As a theater piece, it's fabulous - the original show was a hit, as was the revival.

I know some people hated this movie, but it's not awful. It's just not great.

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.

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.

The song numbers of "Nine" are really very well-staged with all those fantastic actresses in this Oscar-winning stellar cast. "A Call from the Vatican" by Penelope Cruz is very sexy and playful. "Folies Bergere" by Judi Dench is nothing like what you have seen her do before. "Be Italian" by Fergie is very sensual with unique choreography, and for me the best number of the whole film. "Cinema Italiano" by Kate Hudson is decidedly faster-paced and modern with lyrics that are meaningful to the story, but her character seemed forced into the sequence. "Guarda la Luna" by Sophia Loren is ethereal. "Unusual Way" by Nicole Kidman showcased her beautiful face more than her voice. Marion Cotillard had two numbers "My Husband Makes Movies" and "Take It All," both of which fully showcase her sensitive acting chops.

However the problem is, these fantastic song and dance number are united by a very thin storyline, that of a premiere Italian director Guido Contini (played by Daniel Day Lewis) who seemed to be stuck in a perpetual artist's block. In fact, he does not even have a script yet for his much-awaited new feature film with the grandiose title of "Italia"! The musical numbers express his relationship with the various women in his life. However, this main character (or even his songs) is not really very appealing nor sympathetic nor interesting. You really need some patience to get through "Nine." It is just like watching a series of music videos held together by a very tenuous connecting string, ready to unravel at any time. Director Rob Marshall does his best with the thin "plot" but this is certainly not "Chicago." I think "Nine" would be better appreciated on DVD. You would wish you could just fast-forward to the next song number and skip all the dour Contini parts.

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.