NINE - The Movie Musical - Review Thread — Page 4

For what its worth... from a previous posts, here's what I had to say about Rob Marshall's film adaptation of NINE:

Having seen the film already this past Tuesday at one of the many nationwide advance screenings all I'll say about it is I cried 3 times during the film. It stands alone as its own interpretation of NINE as it pays heavy homage to all 3 previous incarnations -- Federico Fellini's original 1963 source, Tommy Tune's 1982 Broadway original and David Leveaux's 2003 Broadway revival. Rob Marshall even pays homage (just as he did to Bob Fosse and his original CHICAGO) to the 2 Broadway production's choreography in spots. Those familiar with them will know them.

I also agree with someone else's assessment on another post, the film is actually a straight film WITH musical numbers -- I wouldn't call it a movie musical at all. As a huge fan of the musical I am pleased that they trimmed the score and used what they did. It works for film. It would have been an overwhelming mess if ALL of the score was retained. I also love Marshall's technique of cutting into musical numbers (as he did with CHICAGO) -- from number to present reality, therefore you don't get bored watching a full 3-4 minute song without any visual stimuli. Heck, this technique is even used on stage BUT no one ever mentions that.

Anyway... I'm not going to go into a full detailed review as others have. It was a beautiful film. The film is purely a European film in every sense of the word (camouflaged as an American film). Its chic. Sophisticated. Funny. Sad. Introspective and fabulous. As I mentioned above, I cried 3 times. First time was during the opening Overture sequence. No credits needed to be seen -- Rob Marshall says it all with that sequence and it is simply breathtaking. The first little 60's 'cinema Italiano' moment (with that 60's music and Guido's little car and la Via Veneto), I was almost out of my seat from the bliss -- it was just all too perfect and delicious.

As my friend said -- the film might not appeal to US audiences: its just too sophisticated.

Time will tell and yes... I could have watched the film from the beginning right after it was over. Its an easy watch.

That's why I usually check both RottenTomatoes AND Metacritic. Metacritic only aggregates reviews from major sources and gives each review a numeric grade, instead of the positive/negative system of RottenTomatoes, which often can be misleading.

Right now, Nine has a 50 on Metacritic.

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I'm seeing this tonight. I'm just having real trouble believing it's as offensively bad as some of the most negative reviews are saying. Particularly since the most negative reviews (from the Village Voice or the Post) seem to cram in unabashed criticism for both Chicago and the stage productions of Nine.

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I agree with the critics who did not like it. And I don't believe the average theatregoer will have a lot of good things to say about the film except for the ravaging women.

Marion and Penelope easily give the best performances in the film. I hope they will be recognized with Oscar nominations.

Updated On: 12/18/09 at 08:55 PM

I thought the movie was good with moments of greatness.

The greatness?

Marion Cotillard. Fantastic performance. Everyone in the audience cared about her. The reaction to the screen test she had to sit through was a testament to that. Gasps, awws, etc. "My Husband Makes Movies" was heartbreaking and beautiful. "Take It All" was heartbreaking and fierce. Fantastic. I can only hope the Oscar voters accept her into the Supporting category. She's not the Lead Actress that the Weinsteins are campaigning for.

Penelope Cruz illuminated the screen whenever she was on. I wish she had more to do. Her "Call to the Vatican" was effortlessly sexy.

Judi Dench. She was sassy, and I feel like I'm in the minority when I say that I liked her "Folies Bergere".

"Overture Belle Donna" was expertly staged and a fantastic opening. Likewise, the Finale was great. The music, and the curtain call quality of it all. But I'm a sucker for that type of thing in movies, when all the characters we've seen come back. So, for me, excellent. Same goes for the orchestrations and film score.

"Be Italian" was superb, the definitive rendition of that song, vocally. Again, I wish Fergie had more to do. From what I saw of her, I loved. Her voice is fantastic. There are glimmers of real acting talent, but we don't get to see the full thing. But that's not exclusive to the film version of the material.

The cinematography and art direction elevated the piece a great deal. It was never dull to look at.

Otherwise?

It could honestly have benefited from another musical number. "Simple", perhaps. Something more. The "book scenes" tended to drag, lacking momentum.

Some of the numbers were so... stagebound. And I hated the fact that we saw Nicole Kidman's back almost as much as her face during "Unusual Way" (which, while good, was not the standout it could've been).

Daniel Day-Lewis delivered a good performance. Hardly his best. And he had the film stolen from underneath him by basically all his female cast mates.

Sophia Loren added some nostalgia quality and a nice voice, but otherwise looked like a waxworks statue.

Kate Hudson delivered fine. But her number is such a tossaway thing. It's fun and all, but eh. I'd rather see "Take It All" nominated for awards than "Cinema Italiano". I liked the nod to the stage version of Stephanie, and think that if they had fleshed out that version, the version of a critic, more it would've benefited. We get it, everyone thinks Guido is a genius. It would've been nice to see Stephanie as the counterpoint to that. I also think it's odd that critics are singling out Kidman for being a glorified cameo, when Hudson seemed to be in the film less than her. And is far less influential.


As a whole- it hardly deserves the critical derision it has been getting. It's far, far superior to, say, Rent or The Producers or Mamma Mia!. I was entertained and captivated- at times, moved, and never bored. But, I did not love it as much as I wanted to. It was good, like I said, with moments of greatness. Which is far more than a lot of movies deliver nowadays. I honestly don't get some of the sheer nastiness and venom some usually respectable critics are giving it.

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Updated On: 12/19/09 at 02:30 AM

I loved every single minute of it, whatever that's worth.

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Kad, your review was pretty much, spot on. Although, I liked Kate Hudson and her number much more than you did.

Judi Dench's number was wonderful.....wonderful!!!!

I find all of the musical numbers in NINE to be superfluous. I agree with the critic who said that none of the musical numbers do anything to advance the story and that they only restate what is obvious and has already been stated. This movie is a fiasco and Rob Marshall is a hack!

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"Luscious, if you think you can do better.....go for it!"

I don't think I can do better. That's why I don't make movies. And neither should Rob Marshall! He should be directing dinner theatre.

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Updated On: 12/20/09 at 12:34 PM

I loved it. Thought it was absolutely wonderful! I'm sure it will do quite well at the box office.

I was incredibly disappointed. The movie is a big, flashy, incoherent mess with a few saving graces:
1) Marion Cotillard turns in a heartbreaking and very moving performance as Luisa and could easily score Oscar #2 this year if she's slipped into the supporting race. Her songs are the only ones I felt actually advanced the plot and fit well into the film.
2) Penelope Cruz is HOTTTTTTT! I'm not at all a fan of hers, but I was sitting in the theater actually finding my jaw dropping at points. *SPOILER* Her suicide, on the other hand, is handled very poorly and it's way to rushed to have any impact whatsoever. *SPOILER END*
3) "Be Italian" actually made me want to stand up and cheer. It's just that good. Like Kad said, vocally, it is the definitive version of the song. Fergie has a powerhouse voice that really makes the song come alive. Even if the jump cutting between musical number and reality is jarring (more on that later), the excitement of the number is so great that I just kind of went with it.
4) "Overture delle Donne" is beautifully executed. It's just a perfect way to set up the film. The way this number is staged had me really hoping the rest of the film would match it. I was let down.

The rest of the film is a big ol' mess, I'm sorry to say.
1) Daniel Day-Lewis is totally annoying as Guido. He does nothing to improve upon the fact that Guido is not much more than a whiny little kid. He adds nothing to the role. "Guido's Song" is so jarring and incohesive, that all I could think was "What is Rob Marshall doing?!"
2) There is zero need for any of the other numbers in the film besides the overture, "My Husband...," "Take It All," and "Be Italian." (Not even "Call from the Vatican.") Rob Marshall found no way to incorporate them into his masturbatory attempt at trying to create the same brilliance of CHICAGO. He made almost every single number and supporting character expendable.
3) Nothing was done to mend the thin plots of both 8 1/2 and the stage version of NINE. In fact, this movie worsens that flaw. The only clear plot line was Luisa's. Everything else kind of falls apart.
4) There is no explanation as to why the musical numbers are fantasy sequences. In CHICAGO, it was clear that it was all in the imaginations of the characters. Here, it's just CHICAGO copy-and-pasted without any reasoning. For example, Carla appears in a cloud of mist after her number much like the transition after "Cell Block Tango." And "Folies Bergère" is a direct copy of "When You're Good to Mama."

I give it a major thumbs down, with a major thumbs up for Marion Cotillard.