The highly anticipated musical-turned-movie, Nine, directed by the mastermind of Chicago Rob Marshall, premiered December 25. I was half expecting to fall head over heals for this glamorous drama. But sadly, I was a disappointed.
The film is based on the famous Italian director Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) and his constant struggle with the many women in his life, who are played by an impressive list of award-winning actresses.
We have the fiery mistress (Penelope Cruz), the longtime muse (Nicole Kidman), the seamstress and confidant (Judi Dench), the suffering wife (Marion Cotillard), the American Vogue editor (Kate Hudson), the prostitute from his past (Fergie), and, of course, the mother (Sophie Loren).
The director had an amazing cast that he had no idea what to do with. Nine does not have the magic that he created in the musical Chicago, which is what many expected and what left so many disappointed
Daniel Day-Lewis, the lead in Marshall’s film, failed at his attempt at singing and dancing, but his impressive acting compensated for that. His performance shows that Lewis will never, ever end up on the Broadway stage, but I am sure that his acting career will not suffer.
Marion Cotillard, Day’s suffering wife, is among the likes of Audrey Hepburn in this film and truly shows Oscar potential in her performance. Cotillard makes her audience identify with her character even if they have never been placed in testing her situation. She is really the only actress in the movie who is worth mentioning as respectable, other than Kate Hudson.
Hudson has a contagious energy in her song and dance number of Cinema Italian. With her blond bouncy hair and flashy silver 60’s inspired dress made her fit the part perfectly and it seems that she inherited the dancer jeans of her mother, Goldie Hawn. Those two are the only things that save this film from being a complete disappointment.
Besides the relatable wife and the cute blonde the only other thing worth seeing is the wonderful glitzy sheen the put on the era on the 60’s. The scenery and the costumes create a sort of nostalgia for the time of the Kennedys and British invasion bands but, even so the greatest misfortune of this movie is that if you have seen any of the three magnificent trailers for Nine, you have seen everything that is worthwhile about it.
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