Nine (2009)

Directed by Rob Marshall. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Sophia Loren, Ricky Tognazzi, Giuseppe Tognazzi, Stacy Ann “Fergie” Ferguson. [R]

Tacky, overly-stylized musical “inspired by” Fellini’s self-analytical 8½ (originally made into a Broadway production in 1982) lacks conviction and a clear attitude, and settles on serving up a lot of splashy, chaotic visuals and attractive people with favorable lighting and glossy photography. Day-Lewis does what he can with the lead role of a frustrated director whose feminine muses can’t solve his writer’s block; he’s watchable, of course, but it’s a shallow characterization that he struggles to make interesting. The film aspires to be a music-enriched dissection of its artist’s imagination and memories, but just provides flesh and fantasy supported by skimpy costuming and skimpier creativity; as in his earlier movie musical, Chicago, director Marshall is more concerned with rat-a-tat razzle-dazzle for the music numbers than anything approaching a real idea or emotion, the frequently hyperactive editing obscuring the complex set designs and choreography. As self-indulgent and capricious at times as the Fellini original, but without the energized artistry or surreal imagination to make the messiness palatable…so unless you really like these mostly middling songs (or despise reading subtitles), just stick with the Italian original. Not to be confused with the animated movie, 9, which was released that same year.

41/100