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| Movie Review: Nine Alternate Title: La Vita Acida
Story: Mamma mia - what has
director Rob Marshall wrought? Perhaps this film based
on the 1982 Broadway play which was brought back to Broadway in 2003
which was adapted from the Federico Fellini film “8
1⁄2” has had one too many incarnations. The film was written
by Michael Tolkin and the late Anthony Minghella,
based on the book for the musical “Nine” by Arthur
Kopit, music and lyrics by Maury Yeston. See?
Just reviewing the provenance of this film takes an entire paragraph.
Guido Contini is a tired, creatively
exhausted, international film director. The pressure to make another
film is overwhelming as are his many relationships with women represented
in the film by his late mother, his Muse, his mistress, his first female
obsession, his colleague, the costume designer, the reporter for Vogue
and his long suffering wife. See? Troppo (too much).
Each woman gets to sing a song or two. Guido
gets to do a lot of smoking, stumbling about and hand wringing. We get
to see a lot of razzle dazzle, blinding spotlights, quick cuts - a la
music video style and sadly, not enough of a connection to any of the
parts. The acting was uneven and at times embarrassing for these very
well-known actors. The good news is that Italy looks good. Italy always
looks good.
Watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSG9mWbD1_I
Watch the trailer for 1963's Federico Fellini's 81/2 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtDQOF_pU8A Acting: As much as I admire
Daniel Day-Lewis, he was miserably miscast as Guido Contini.
Oscar winning Marion Cotillard as wife Luisa, manages
to stay above the mediocre performances of many of the other ladies.
Penélope Cruz as mistress
Carla, hits some high spots and some low spots. She is still one of
my favorites, no matter what she plays. Judi
Dench as costume designer Lilli seemed to be the only one who
was having a good time. Stacy 'Fergie'
Ferguson as Saraghina was terrific
in her limited role. She is the female singer for The Black Eyed Peas.
Kate Hudson as Vogue reporter Stephanie was imply awful.
Nicole Kidman as Muse
Claudia was nothing to write home about and Sophia Loren
as Mamma was scary. Trivia: Javier Bardem was originally cast in the role
now played by Daniel Day-Lewis but backed out before production began.
Director Rob Marshall has been nominated for Broadway's
Tony Award six times: as Best Choreographer, in 1993, for "Kiss
of the Spider Woman--The Musical;" in 1994, for "Damn Yankees!"
and also for "She Loves Me;" in 1998 for "Cabaret;"
and in 1999 for "Little Me;" and as Best Director (Musical),
with collaborator Sam Mendes, for "Cabaret." He has yet to
win. Daniel Day-Lewis was Jonathan Demme's first choice
for the part of Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia (1993). He turned the
part down to work on In the Name of the Father (1993) and Tom Hanks
was cast in Philadelphia (1993) instead. Day-Lewis earned an Oscar nomination
for best actor in In the Name of the Father (1993), but Hanks won the
best actor Oscar for Philadelphia (1993), the part Day-Lewis turned
down. He is the first non-American actor to win two Academy Awards for
best actor. He won 23 acting awards for his performance in There Will
be Blood, including the coveted Oscar.
Predilection: I like Daniel Day-Lewis and Penelope
Cruz.
Critters: None
Food: Shockingly, none. I longed for pasta.
Sex Spectrum: Lots of bedroom scenes but no actual
sex scenes.
Soundtrack: The only tune I was singing as I left
the theater was the one that Fergie sang - 'Be Italian.'
Opening Titles: A short black and white sequence
followed by the title of the film. All other credits are at the end.
Visual Art: Italy always looks fine.
Theater Audience: Two people shy of nine.
Weather: It was sunny in Italy.
Sappy Factor: 0
Quirky Meter: 0
Squirm Scale: 0
Drift Factor: I drifted a lot and looked at my watch
often.
Predictability Level: High
Tissue Usage: 0
Oscar Worthy: No
Big Screen or Rental: Neither, really. Why not rent
Fellini's 81/2?
Length: Under two hours
LOBO HOWLS: 6 (an inverted 9)
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