went to a screening of "Nine" today...

[camncal]

Posted: 12/6/09 at 11:34pm

i went in not knowing anything and here's what i thought--
It was quite different from what i was expecting. From all the previews, they make it seem like the most exciting upbeat musical film ever, but it's actually more of a drama. I really enjoyed the movie although the score is not as strong as most recent musical films. It's definitely more character driven film with musical elements than a show piece. Each character gets one song to help develop their stories with the exception of Daniel Day Lewis and Marion Cotillard, they each had 2 songs.

So performance wise-
Daniel Day Lewis-- I thought he was ok. I don't really like his singing, it was kind of weird. I feel like the audience never really got to connect with him even though he was in the movie from beginning to end. He was like the center piece surrounded by all these amazing performances by the women of the film.

Marion Cotillard- i think she is the best out of all the women. she sang two songs, both dramatic ones. great singer. I saw some people got teared up during her first song.

Nicole Kidman- She wasn't in the movie much, but she was gorgeous in every frame that she was in. Her song might be the most memorable one out of all the women's songs. It's a slow song and she sang it very well. She gave the film something extra, even though it's a small part, she brought a lot to it. Her scene just took the film to a different level.

Penelope Cruz- She's got the flashiest role of all the women. she's an amazing dancer, actress, and singer, BUT i could barely understand her when she talks/sings. I don't think i understood 95% of the lyrics of her only song so it was a bummer. It was a fun musical sequence.

Kate Hudson- She had one song, she was great, but i don't really see the need of her character.

Fergie-- she was flawless as the prostitute from his past. she was basically only in the film for the during of the song. no speaking lines.

Sofia Loren- she had one song, she was decent.

Judi Dench-- One song, it was a fun musical sequence, but not my fav.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 12:11am

Wow! Thanks for that honest assessment/review... especially coming from someone with no prior knowledge of NINE, 8 1/2 or whatever.

Everyone familiar with any incarnation of the story is going with expectations. The worst thing they can do. This is a film adaptation. An adaptation -- not a carbon-copy recreation of any of the prior incarnations of the story.

Enjoy it for what it is. Seriously.

[Tony2600]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 12:46am

I saw this movie last week and found it very confusing. First there’s a song where Guido has all these women walk around him in a circle while the chorus sings a song which uses no words other than “La, la la, la, la, la, la, la…..”. What the hell does that mean???
There’s a song by the old lady who plays M in the James Bond films that made me nuts. She starts her song in English and switches in the middle to another language and I have no friggin’ idea what she’s singing about. I liked her better in the James Bond movies.
The best song in the movie is “I’m a Italian”. But this song was also confusing. In the middle of the movie it goes to black and white and we see these little boys running on a beach like the Jersey shore and then they run into a putana from Bensonhurst Brooklyn and then it goes back to color and this horny woman and her friends sing “I’m A Italian” while throwing sand all over the place. Will someone please tell me WTF this was all about? One other song was by A-Rod’s girlfriend. She was very good and you could see how this gal could give A-Rod a hot rod. LOL

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 12:50am

^ Oh dear....

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:21am

Tony2600...are you joking?

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:34am

I can't elaborate this minute, but I also saw the film on Thursday night and was hugely disappointed.

It was an episodic mess that I found surprisingly cold. It has moments, obviously -- "Be Italian," even if entirely misconceived visually, is incredibly rousing, and Cotillard and Day-Lewis do very strong work -- but I was surprised how flat most of it felt.

It doesn't even offer enough of the entertainment/razzle-dazzle to coast on to make up for the lack of substance. Most of these numbers aren't big, splashy, fun sequences; they're character songs, and considering there is ZERO actual character definition (except for Cotillard), they just get boring after a while.

More than a handful of the songs end up coming off as nothing but throwaways (which wasn't really the case in the stage production), and at that, throwaways that aren't particularly (a) entertaining, or (b) illuminating about the women singing them, or what they mean to Guido.

Dench's and Hudson's numbers did nothing but make me go (a) "wow, they can sing pretty well" and (b) "what the f*** am I -- or the movie -- getting out of this song?"

And for the record, Marshall recycling his approach to "Chicago" is, by and large, what sinks the movie. Staging every musical sequence (except for "Take It All") in the same film soundstage grows extremely monotonous/dull, and, sad to say, my eyes started to glaze over during some of them (as excited as I was for Dench to sing/dance, her number is sleep-inducing). Updated On: 12/7/09 at 01:34 AM

[jpbran]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 11:39am

I'm guessing "Tony" IS joking...

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 11:44am

"It was an episodic mess that I found surprisingly cold."

But that's the SHOW itself.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 11:56am

Tony2600...are you joking?

He just joined on Saturday. Could most definitely be a fake account from another sock puppet on here just to do what he just did.

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:08pm

After speaking with a good friend of mine, who saw both Broadway productions of "NINE", and the film, she said that the film of NINE translated well to the screen (not to mention that its all about movies).

She said, that it was like the film of "Chicago". Its like Chicago in the way that it is an "all star" cast performing their hearts out in a sexy musical that you can agree is a great representation of the stage musical. She went on to say that it is one of the better musicals to be filmed in the last little while. This film is about the show, and the material, not all glitz and glamour.

[bestinshow2]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:11pm

I saw "Nine" a few weeks ago and nodded off a little half way through. No, really. I don't get the appeal of this movie, it's loooong, boring and depressing. But not in a good way.

Updated On: 12/7/09 at 01:11 PM

[Insider2]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:13pm

Variety has given it a very solid review, so I guess I'll ignore the fool who refers to Judi Dench as "the old lady who plays M in the James Bond films".

[TalkinLoud]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:28pm

The musical is episodic. The movie the musical is based on is episodic. Why shouldn't this be episodic?

Die hard fans of the show aren't going to like this because diehard fans of the show take issue with cuts that the creators feel are necessary is translating the show. Look at the musicals from the past decade that tried to retain as much of the stage show as possible. They suck. The ones that actually took care in adapting, not simply filming what was on stage, are the better musical films.

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 1:51pm

This always happens. People desperately want a movie/show to be good/great, so they irrationally defend it even though they haven't seen it. Let me clarify (and for the record, I really enjoy the stage production of NINE, but I hardly think it's a masterpiece):


""It was an episodic mess that I found surprisingly cold."
But that's the SHOW itself. "

Not quite. The show, like the movie, is basically vignettes of the women in Guido's life, but in the show, it feels like they're all vaguely connected by Guido's narrative throughline. Here, in the film, it FEELS episode because it seems every few minutes like we're in a different movie, and we feel little-to-no attahcment to Guido or the story, because Marshall's too busy rushing everything along. And in regards to the coldness, sure, NINE isn't a bucket of warm emotionality, but at the end of the show, I felt like I'd gotten to know this character a little bit, and felt relatively satisfied. Here, there's nothing but a void.

And, hey, CHICAGO didn't really have an ounce of emotion (except maybe Amos), but it packed enough entertainment and "razzle dazzle" into its running time that it didn't really matter. What shocked me about the movie version of NINE is how effing bo-ring it was. The musical numbers are shot identically, and so statically, it's difficult to be engaged.



"The musical is episodic. The movie the musical is based on is episodic. Why shouldn't this be episodic?

Die hard fans of the show aren't going to like this because diehard fans of the show take issue with cuts that the creators feel are necessary is translating the show. Look at the musicals from the past decade that tried to retain as much of the stage show as possible. They suck. The ones that actually took care in adapting, not simply filming what was on stage, are the better musical films."

Like I said above, the musical and movie are both episodic, but the latter feels DISJOINTED and schizophrenic (seriously, go see this movie and try finding a rationale why Kate Hudson's character -- and "Cinema Italiano" -- are in the movie).


Look, nothing I'm going to convince those of you DYING to see the film that it'll be anything less than a masterpiece -- but I went in very excited. Love the cast, really like the show, thought Marshall's work on "Chicago" was brilliant -- but the film is lacking a real pulse, something I didn't think was possible from this material.

Make up your own mind, but mark my words, reaction is going to be all over the place on this one.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 2:11pm

Curious Elixer if you've seen 8 1/2 and what your thoughts are on it.

I think NINE ultimately will be as divisive to most audiences as 8 1/2 would be if they were asked to sit through it today.

It was a real risk to make a mainstream movie musical paying homage to a film with no real plot, no real emotional pay off for the central character, and vignettes and fantasies only loosly linked together.

But that is what 8 1/2 is. And this movie adaptation follows it closely.

A lot of people who don't like the film seem to be complaining about Marshall's insistance that all the fantasy (musical) sequences be rooted to the soundstage. Of course it seems obvious to me that they are there because they exist as ideas for the film he is trying to envision.

But perhaps opening up that fantasy world to different locations would have lessened the enevitable comarisons to CHICAGO. But I think any angle you took to the material, audiences would still be divided on it.

NINE has never been the conventional audience pleaser that CHICAGO or HAIRSPRAY are.

And I think thats okay. Fellini at least probably would have wanted it that way.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 9:36pm

Never got thru 8 1/2 movie but loved the 9 revival.

The memory of a gutted score makes it to painful to watch.

[Michael Bennett]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 9:58pm

Roxy you should definitely stay away from the movie musical NINE - you wouldn't get it at all

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 10:12pm

When it pops up on Netflix, I will than give it a whirl.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 12/7/09 at 11:44pm

"than" or "THEN"?