Nine
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: December 18, 2009
4.5
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 247 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
88
Mixed:
53
Negative:
106
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User Reviews

User scoreBy dateMost helpful
6
grandpajoe6191Sep 29, 2011
Yes, "Nine" is not a strong movie and I also agree that Federico Fellini would have despised it. But the veteran actors (especially Daniel Day Lewis) saves the day for the movie.
2 of 4 users found this helpful22
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5
TinoDec 30, 2009
I have _not_ seen the movie, only a clip of P. Cruz dancing and singing, and now I hear that Weinstein will pull the movie from theaters. I would like to comment that if the rest of the movie is of the same quality as Cruz's singing in I have _not_ seen the movie, only a clip of P. Cruz dancing and singing, and now I hear that Weinstein will pull the movie from theaters. I would like to comment that if the rest of the movie is of the same quality as Cruz's singing in the clip circulating on the late-night shows, I'm not surprised the movie is doing poorly. Her dancing may be okay, but her singing is definitely sub-par. I hate to say it, but her voice simply is not made for singing, and and if the director could miss an obvious quality like that then he probably missed some other things as well. Just my two cents.… Expand
0 of 1 users found this helpful
4
KatieYJan 2, 2010
Nine was a chaotic movie that was long (2.5 hours!) and dragged out. I'd never got the gist of Nine and I was confused of what was going on in most of the scenes. On a positive note, Marion Cotillard was outstanding in Nine and indeed Nine was a chaotic movie that was long (2.5 hours!) and dragged out. I'd never got the gist of Nine and I was confused of what was going on in most of the scenes. On a positive note, Marion Cotillard was outstanding in Nine and indeed was my favorite of Guido's many women.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
bobhJan 3, 2010
Unpleasant. Disjointed. Marquee actresses add interest to this otherwise boring film
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
H.D.BflyDec 28, 2009
Day-Lewis was terrible. The worst Italian imitation ever. His accent was Eastern European. Totally miscast. And the character was totally unlikeable, bereft of even a hint of charisma. Why would anyone like him, let alone love him? Okay, the Day-Lewis was terrible. The worst Italian imitation ever. His accent was Eastern European. Totally miscast. And the character was totally unlikeable, bereft of even a hint of charisma. Why would anyone like him, let alone love him? Okay, the women. We see them in the beginning, like a tease on a TV variety show. Starring Nicole Kidman--whom you won't see until the third act. Kate Hudson, who appears in the "reality" portion of the film half the time she's in the fantasy musical number. There is no character for them to play, only types, and they come and go so quickly, there is no time to get to know the characters or have the actress's develop a scintilla of one. Sophia Loren? I dare anyone to repeat a line she said--good or bad--that doesn't have the word Guido in it. What was her song? I couldn't tell you if a knife was at my throat. Marion Cotillard was a wonder. I've never seen her act before and she blew me away. The brightest spot in a lightless film. [Although I generally liked the cinematography.] Penelope Cruz was good, too. And Judi Dench, well, was Judi Dench. You can always depend on that old workhorse. The rest, a big mess. Terrible DDL, terrible songs, and stinky direction. I went in expecting a not-great film but even those low expectations were not met.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
DanielP.Jan 27, 2010
Some really good moments of acting and music, costumes, etc., but it was hard to get emotionally involved enough to care about the main characters.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
PeterP.Jan 30, 2010
Colossal waste of great talent! I saw 8 1/2 when it first came out and this "musical" is a vague, mumbled mess of a movie. I wanted to like it but couldn't. The music was straight out of "Cabaret" and was more German than Italian. Shame on you!
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
JillianF.Feb 1, 2010
Too many women! At least Sophia Loren (cold and rigid) and Nicole Kidman (cold and distant) were two that I think were badly cast. The best? Marion Cotillard and the song "Be Italian" which I did hum on the way home!
0 of 0 users found this helpful
6
AlexIDec 21, 2009
While few musical numbers are well filmed and staged,most of the film is dull. A generous 6 for fine cinematography!
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
QBeingDec 28, 2009
Another film about a self destructive man al la "All that Jazz". where the music wasn't as good, the story wasn't as good. But you do have an all star cast, most of them can't sing, but hey who needs to sing in a musical.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
ChadSDec 29, 2009
"But I wonder how many fervent admirers he has today?" asks film historian David Thomson, at the end of his entry on Federico Fellini in "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film". Probably more, back in 1982 as the original production of "But I wonder how many fervent admirers he has today?" asks film historian David Thomson, at the end of his entry on Federico Fellini in "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film". Probably more, back in 1982 as the original production of "Nine" made its debut on Broadway, in which the crowds lining up for the Tony Award-winning show would be more hip to Fellini's "8 1/2", since the Italian filmmaker was alive, and that Woody Allen had brought attention to the 1965 classic when he used it as a template for "Stardust Memories", just two years earlier. Today, however, the more suitable question, a question that nobody thought to have propounded on, before "Nine" was, at long last, finally given the green light, should have been this: "How many people out there even know who Fellini is?" The filmmaker has a problem, a pretty fundamental one, that dooms "Nine" from the start. If moviegoers know nothing about this titan of Italian cinema, how are they supposed to sympathize with such an insufferable prick like Guido(Daniel Day Lewis)? Without the backstory of Fellini's celebrated filmography, in other words, without a working knowledge of film art(rather than film product: the event film, the blockbuster) as an excuse for Guido's transgressions, this artist with writer's block seems like nothing more than your garden variety womanizer. "Nine" arrives at theaters too late. Film culture is dead. Far-removed from that whole "cult of the director" of yesteryear, even the most fervent admirer may now realize that "La dolce vita"(or "Amarcord", take your pick), would be no excuse for cheating on your wife, and then, in turn, cheating on your mistress, and so on, and so on.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful
4
AnkaDec 29, 2009
Daniel Day Lewis speaking in that terrible imitation of an italian accent. That's probably the best part of the film.
0 of 0 users found this helpful
5
smijatovAug 12, 2010
Well, 'Nine' surely is not Rob Marshall's masterpiece (especially after 'Chicago' and 'Memoirs of a Geisha'), but it does have some good points.
First of, technically, there is not much to say against it. Good costumes and set design, niceWell, 'Nine' surely is not Rob Marshall's masterpiece (especially after 'Chicago' and 'Memoirs of a Geisha'), but it does have some good points.
First of, technically, there is not much to say against it. Good costumes and set design, nice cinematography and good enough music. The performances are very good, especially Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Penelope Cruz, once again, proves that she is a very versatile performer and excellently pin-points the Italian accent for the role of Contini's mistress. Cotillard is also excellent, but somewhat underwhelming after her amazing performance in 'La Vie en Rose'. However, the rest of the cast is very good, too. Daniel Day-Lewis is not as good as usual, but still decent. Judi Dench is, well.. somewhat disturbing, but still ok. Nicole Kidman is perfect as the actress-diva of the 60s, but is somewhat underused, since the first half of the film is just building up for her arrival and then: nothing. Lovely performance and singing, though. The story is hard to follow and at the end of the film one wonders what it was all about. A writers block? A mid-life crisis? Many women? A man who does not know what he wants with his life? With his film? Seems ironical, since it reflects Rob Marshall's confusion over what to do with this film, for he surely could have done a much better job.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
LynAug 22, 2010
I thought "Chicago" was brilliant and enjoyable, but with a story so thin that it evaporated from one's mind before one got home from the theater. By contrast, "Nine" has some brilliant and enjoyable song-and-dance performances, but virtuallyI thought "Chicago" was brilliant and enjoyable, but with a story so thin that it evaporated from one's mind before one got home from the theater. By contrast, "Nine" has some brilliant and enjoyable song-and-dance performances, but virtually no story at all! To me, it's a waste of a lot of excellent actors, but people who are deeply appreciative of song-and-dance efforts might find it worthwhile.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
jjam970308Aug 26, 2010
only good parts were when Penelope Cruz was on screen..worth renting if nothing else..........................................................................................................................................
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
RyanGeeSep 28, 2010
A film's stylistic vision is perhaps the aspect of film that I most personally adore. But although a film may employ all of the chic characteristics possible, it is completely futile if it possesses a lack of plot. Unfortunately, this isA film's stylistic vision is perhaps the aspect of film that I most personally adore. But although a film may employ all of the chic characteristics possible, it is completely futile if it possesses a lack of plot. Unfortunately, this is ultimately the importune description of Rob Marshall's(Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) Nine.

Nine is a story of a director, Guido Contini (Daniel Day Lewis), that finds himself in a creative rut and endless romantic quandaries. So in facile terminology, the film is a story solely about writer's block. Though I was doubtful of the mundane premise, I was positive that the music and art direction of the film would compensate for it. While I was somewhat satisfied with the musical numbers- particularly Marion Cotillard's Take It All- it did not possess enough meaning to have any sort of relative significance when watching the film.

Before exemplifying the logic of my criticism, I must compliment the brilliance of the art direction within Nine. The choreography of the film is just mesmerizing as Fergie and her company effortlessly implement images of sand combined with dance. Also, the transition between gray scale and color in Kate Hudson's number was just simply creative in the way it depicted modernness versus antiquity. Penelope Cruz does execute an adequate performance, but having only a small portion on screen, I find myself confused of her Best Actress nomination. The true star of the film is Marion Cotillard, the subtle but complex manner of her performances is perhaps the highlight of the film. If you enjoyed her performance in french biopic La Vie En Rose, you will undoubtedly find satisfaction in this portion of the film.

Here is the characteristic of the film that makes all of the above compliments ineffective: the numbers are stringed in immensely vague manner. Many of the performances occur abruptly, with hardly no lead-in or relevance to the plot. What it comes down to is that Nine resembles MTV prior to the 2000s decade. It is just a series of music videos that only slightly are relevant towards each other. The plot is so weak, that it cannot support the brilliance of the art direction. It is hard to enjoy the sequences if they hardly have any sense. This leads me to question, who wants to watch a film about writer's block? Additionally, it does not help if the lyrics are so meaningless and simple (one of the chorus lines is "my husband makes movies").

If you are solely watching Nine for the musical performances, then it will fulfill that desire. But overall, Nine is not as a whole a good film. There is no memorable plot, which ultimately makes the music hollow and meaningless. Nine is an impressive sequence of music numbers, not an overall splendid film.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
JonnyFendiJan 11, 2011
Page one.. page oneâ
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4
beingryanjudeSep 3, 2014
Rob Marshall is by far one of the finest directors in the musical genre. This time he's taken a lesser known musical and has attempted to raise it as high as 2002's Chicago. Unfortunately, other than some gifted music, it falls completely flat.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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4
EpicLadySpongeApr 4, 2016
Nine (they couldn't use the number 9 as this film's title because another film got there first, without all the women getting in the way, all the musical nonsense, and the reality) just seems weak to balance through in the start. Weakened toNine (they couldn't use the number 9 as this film's title because another film got there first, without all the women getting in the way, all the musical nonsense, and the reality) just seems weak to balance through in the start. Weakened to fit another plain film not worth watching with any men around here.… Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
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5
amheretojudgeApr 1, 2018
hold on to me, mama..

Nine A bold risk to create a character driven feature in a musical genre and although the makers fails to pull it off as anticipated the hard work that went behind it is surely visible and plausible. As all Robhold on to me, mama..

Nine

A bold risk to create a character driven feature in a musical genre and although the makers fails to pull it off as anticipated the hard work that went behind it is surely visible and plausible. As all Rob Marshall's feature consists, it too scores majestically on all musical numbers; from production design to art design and from choreography to all the beats. And the performance objective is relied upon Daniel Day Lewis who carries it off easily with the help of a great supporting cast like Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench. Nine is easily adequate up till the musical genre is considered but as soon as the vision gets wide, it fails on craft due to a loosely placed script.… Expand
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5
ahmedaiman1999Apr 9, 2020
Daniel Day-Lewis

A Mediocre Film

I believe this juxtaposition is the only theatrical element that Rob Marshall has successfully managed to transfer from the stage to the silver screen. (5/10)
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