Nine (2009)

"The carnival is loud, brash, brassy, sexy and sometimes tacky or silly, but always entertaining.  Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal
"Sophisticated, sexy and stylishly decked out, Rob Marshall's disciplined, tightly focused film impresses and amuses.  Todd McCarthy, Variety

Editor's Note The Broadway hit NINE moves from the boards to the silver screen with this cinematic adaptation. For this musical take on Federico Fellini's 8½, CHICAGO's Rob Marshall directs a star-filled cast that includes Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, and Sophia Loren.

	Sophia Loren
	Penélope Cruz
	Daniel Day-Lewis
	Nicole Kidman
	Kate Hudson
	Stacy Ferguson
	Judi Dench
	Marion Cotillard
	Ryan Kavanaugh - Executive Producer
	Tucker Tooley - Executive Producer
	Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer
	Kelly Carmichael - Executive Producer
	Michael Dreyer - Executive Producer
	John Deluca - Choreographer
	Rob Marshall - Choreographer
	Maury Yeston - Additional Music/Songs
	Marc Platt - Producer
	Harvey Weinstein - Producer
	John Deluca - Producer
	Rob Marshall - Producer
	Anthony Minghella - Screenwriter
	Arthur Kopit - Source Writer
	Maury Yeston - Composer
	Maury Yeston - Lyricist
	Rob Marshall - Director

Box Office
4 stars out of 5 -- "With a stunning lead performance from Daniel Day-Lewis and a glorious supporting cast of international female stars, this dreamlike fantasia set in the go-go Italia of the mid-1960s will sweep those willing to succumb to its ravishing 'dolce vita' right off their feet." 12/04/2009

Variety
"Sophisticated, sexy and stylishly decked out, Rob Marshall's disciplined, tightly focused film impresses and amuses as it extravagantly renders the creative crisis of a middle-aged Italian director, circa 1965." 12/04/2009

Entertainment Weekly
"Fergie, as an oh-so-Fellini-esque beach drifter, turns herself into a wild electric siren." 12/18/2009

Rolling Stone
3.5 stars out of 4 -- "[A] hot-blooded musical fantasia full of song, dance, raging emotion and simmering sexuality....NINE fires on all cylinders." 12/24/2009

Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "[It's] good to see Marion Cotillard and Penelope Cruz carve something poignant and true from their roles." 12/22/2009

ReelViews 7 of 10
Nine represents director Rob Marshall's second big-screen musical spectacle. His previous effort, Chicago, won an Oscar; although Nine is likely to win its share of praise, it probably won't come close to achieving the same level of acclaim. Although the production numbers are equally impressive, this film is neither as inspired nor as rousing. Part of the problem may be that there are too many high profile actresses vying for the spotlight and each has to be given her moment to shine. Also, despite following its stage inspiration and bringing structure to Fellini's 8 1/2 (the ultimate source material), Nine still suffers at times from a lack of narrative drive and it doesn't have the surreal, dreamlike quality of 8 1/2 to fall back upon...Daniel Day-Lewis, one of today's most serious method actors, channels equal parts Fellini and Marcello Mastroianni. As far as he's concerned, this is a serious endeavor that just happens to feature a few songs. Day-Lewis' performance brings a level of dramatic heft to Nine that at times makes the tone funereal. This is not a happy motion picture, which makes the peppy, poppy nature of "Cinema Italiano" seem especially out of place as compared to the bitter, angry "Take It All." Nine's handling of two key themes from 8 1/2 - the struggle between commerce and art in motion pictures and the difficulty of breaking a creative block- are watered down to the point where they're minor elements. They're present, but the film doesn't do anything interesting or unique with them...Nine, which was awarded numerous Tony awards during both its original 1982 run and a 2003 revival, works better on stage, where the audience is there experiencing things live. Marshall experiences difficulty melding the inherent spectacle of the musical numbers with the intimacy of the drama and the mix of fantasy and reality that are carry-overs from 8 1/2. Nine is entertaining (particularly when someone is singing), but this isn't on the crowd-pleasing level of a Chicago or a Dreamgirls. However, there's little shame in being "merely" engaging in an era when big-budget musicals are members of an endangered species. - James Berardinelli