‘Nine’ is an ambitious failure where almost everything takes a step into the wrong direction. There’s no semblance of a plot, it features some of the most jarringly awkard placements of musical numbers in any film and lacks any emotional quotient saved only by some great visuals and eye candy. It’s the perfect example of an Oscar contender gone haywire.

‘Nine’ follows director Guido Contini’s(Daniel Day-Lewis) midlife crisis. As production on his latest film Italia begins, he doesn’t even have a script. Stifled creatively, he is also heavily involved with a number of extramarital affairs. The women in his life include Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Fergie and Sophia Loren. That’s pretty much the whole plot right there.

As you can imagine from the barebones plot description, the biggest problem with ‘Nine’ is that it has nowhere to go in its narrative and wanders around aimlessly for the majority of its 2 hour runtime. The other problems mentioned below don’t hold a candle to the fact that the whole film can be summated in less than a single sentence. As we are introduced to Contini’s character, a goal is established that he needs a script to begin his next film and cannot find it. Instead of actually doing something about this, Contini wanders around and meets the various women in the film each with a jarring musical number for the next hundred minutes without doing anything at all to advance the plot. By the time it does reach to a resolution, it’s way too late. It’s very ironic too, intentionally or unintentionally, that Contini himself begins production without a script and it seems to be the case with this film too.

What can usually save a lack of plot in musicals are brilliant musical numbers. Unfortunately, ‘Nine’ fails in that aspect too. To start with the positives, the musical numbers have high production value and provide enough feminine eye candy to feast the eyes. But the biggest problem here is that unlike musicals like ‘Sweeney Todd’ or ‘Moulin Rouge’ where through the musical numbers the plot is advanced or the story moves forward, every number in ‘Nine’ brings the film to a screeching halt. The reason is some of the most jarring placement of songs in a motion picture. We get detailed musical numbers that are flashbacks, only problem is they have no context to them. When during the middle of an important dialogue scene, the film shifts to a lavish flashback about a prostitute (Fergie) young Contini met during his chidhood years, the audience member can’t help but be yanked out of the narrative and simply wait for the song to get over. With the exception of the Kate Hudson and Penélope Cruz songs, every other song is there just for the sake of having a musical number and provides nothing in terms of insight into character or plot.

The final problem lies in the characters and how they are handled. Contini has an interesting crisis – he just cannot come up with a script to his next film and has a habit of extramarital affairs. This is something that could have been deeply explored as to how Contini worked and why he faced these issues. But as the movie ends, one realizes that they learnt nothing new about the character. The film never lets the audience into the mind of Contini and what personal issues he was really facing. As a result, it’s distant and the audience ends up watching the character from the outside with no seeming explanation for his actions.

Thankfully, even though they are mostly wasted, ‘Nine’ boasts an immensely talented cast with powerful performances across the board. Daniel Day Lewis does his best with an aimless character and has enough charm to carry the film on his shoulders. Mario Cotillard gives the best performance of the film as a conflicted wife and her performance is the only one that manages to touch the audience’s hearts. Penélope Cruz is surprisingly effective although her sole purpose in the film is as a sex symbol. Fergie is dazzling in her limited appearance while Kate Hudson pulls off a glamorous look perfectly. Nicole Kidman, however, delivers an average and one-note performance in an already limited role.

Overall, ‘Nine’ is a movie with good intentions gone wrong. It’s a textbook example of how even a big budget and fine cast cannot save a film when the fundamental elements are missing. It’s a shame though, since the subject matter executed well could have made a fascinating musical. For now, it’s one of the most ambitious failures of the year.

Rating:

Like this article?

Your vote will help us grow this site and provide even more awesomeness. Click on a button below to share the love.

digg   Facebook   Twitter   reddit   StumbleUpon   Technorati