Film Review: Nine (2009)
Omar Farid |
Last Updated:2/3/10 Section: Movie Reviews
An extraordinary cast with undoubtedly high expectations in the world of film, Nine was to be the film of the year. Directed by Rob Marshall, Nine is the film version of a Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was based on legendary Italian director Federico Fellini's landmark 1963 autobiographical film 8 ½. For many film critics, 8 ½ is one of the most influential and significant films ever made concerning a film director and the notion of creating a film. Thus, it is in this context that this humble reviewer has came to conclusions about what he saw (or lack thereof) in Nine.
The film focuses on film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) who has been receiving much acclaim for his latest film. As his fortieth birthday approaches, however, he finds that he is having writer's block, which impedes his creative ability to make his highly anticipated new film. It is during this midlife crisis of Contini's that we see the messy romantic entanglements Guido has hidden from his wife, played by the brilliant French actress Marion Cotillard. While attempting to balance his life with his incredibly needy mistress, Carla Albanese (played by a sexy Penélope Cruz), along with his needy producer, played by Ricky Tognazzi (who looks strikingly like the producer in the original Fellini film), Guido takes refuge in the stress of his lack of creativity in a sequence of memories of his childhood (much of which alluded to Fellini's own in the original 1963 film). It is here we see the incredible love he has had for his mother, played by the Italian acting legend Sophia Loren. Through the advice of his assistant and film costume designer, played by the ever-reliable British actress Dame Judi Dench along with a short on-screen appearance of Nicole Kidman as one of his actresses, Guido realizes that the creative process is much more difficult than he had anticipated while the media microscope is focused on his private life.
Despite the decent acting performances in Nine, the main dilemma associated with this film is the multiple audiences it attempts to please, and this is where it clearly fails. Is director Marshall attempting to please those who enjoyed his earlier success, Chicago, based on the Kander and Ebb musical? Or is he attempting to impress those of us who know and love Fellini's 8 ½? The dilemma with the former is that much of the Broadway tunes in the film are rather standard fare that do not seem to stand out to the audience. For the latter, Italian composer Nino Rota's charming score is gone. Despite the fact that some of the scenes may be recognizable for those of us who have seen Fellini's original masterpiece (particularly with those starring Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie), it may not provide context for those who have not seen it. And for those of us who like musicals, watching the musical numbers felt like watching a rubbish music video that seemed to be more distracting than relevant to the plot. One of Marshall's biggest failures his that he does not allow ample room for Day-Lewis to showcase Guido's charm. All of those beautiful scenes of Italy in the 1960s with Day-Lewis driving his classic Fiat and wearing skinny black ties and Italian suits with the ever-required black Italian sunglasses made me just want to watch the original Fellini masterpiece from 1963 again, as something clearly fundamental was missing in Nine. The film attempts to appeal to too many moviegoers at once and was a major disappointment for this reviewer.
The film focuses on film director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) who has been receiving much acclaim for his latest film. As his fortieth birthday approaches, however, he finds that he is having writer's block, which impedes his creative ability to make his highly anticipated new film. It is during this midlife crisis of Contini's that we see the messy romantic entanglements Guido has hidden from his wife, played by the brilliant French actress Marion Cotillard. While attempting to balance his life with his incredibly needy mistress, Carla Albanese (played by a sexy Penélope Cruz), along with his needy producer, played by Ricky Tognazzi (who looks strikingly like the producer in the original Fellini film), Guido takes refuge in the stress of his lack of creativity in a sequence of memories of his childhood (much of which alluded to Fellini's own in the original 1963 film). It is here we see the incredible love he has had for his mother, played by the Italian acting legend Sophia Loren. Through the advice of his assistant and film costume designer, played by the ever-reliable British actress Dame Judi Dench along with a short on-screen appearance of Nicole Kidman as one of his actresses, Guido realizes that the creative process is much more difficult than he had anticipated while the media microscope is focused on his private life.
Despite the decent acting performances in Nine, the main dilemma associated with this film is the multiple audiences it attempts to please, and this is where it clearly fails. Is director Marshall attempting to please those who enjoyed his earlier success, Chicago, based on the Kander and Ebb musical? Or is he attempting to impress those of us who know and love Fellini's 8 ½? The dilemma with the former is that much of the Broadway tunes in the film are rather standard fare that do not seem to stand out to the audience. For the latter, Italian composer Nino Rota's charming score is gone. Despite the fact that some of the scenes may be recognizable for those of us who have seen Fellini's original masterpiece (particularly with those starring Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie), it may not provide context for those who have not seen it. And for those of us who like musicals, watching the musical numbers felt like watching a rubbish music video that seemed to be more distracting than relevant to the plot. One of Marshall's biggest failures his that he does not allow ample room for Day-Lewis to showcase Guido's charm. All of those beautiful scenes of Italy in the 1960s with Day-Lewis driving his classic Fiat and wearing skinny black ties and Italian suits with the ever-required black Italian sunglasses made me just want to watch the original Fellini masterpiece from 1963 again, as something clearly fundamental was missing in Nine. The film attempts to appeal to too many moviegoers at once and was a major disappointment for this reviewer.
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