Yesterday I asked my sister how she wanted to spend her rare night off. She said she didn't remember how normal people (people with no children) spend their evenings, so we were very unimaginative and rented a movie. It came down to two musicals: Nine and Fame. We picked the wrong one.
Nine (2009)
Directed by Rob Marshall. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench, plus all the other Oscar winning actresses in the world.
Long story short: The Italian director Guido Contini struggles with the script of his next movie. And the women in his life.
I'm a big fan of
Chicago, so despite all the negative reviews
Nine has received, I was ready to like it if possible. Well, I have to say, the reviews are right. Compared to
Chicago, it was a disapointment. The story, if there was one, was just blah. It seemed so incoherent, just random singing and dancing sequences one after the other. Like my sister pointed out, someone probably had problems with the script of this film, too. Or that's what it seemed like.
The all-star cast didn't help much, but let's look at them more closely anyway. I often have problems when an actor is doing an accent I know is not their own. It takes a while to get use to it. With this movie I was bothered especially by Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman's fake accents. But well. My own problem, really. Kidman made me want to watch
Moulin Rouge!, because that's what I immidiately associated her singing with. Penelope Cruz was, I have to admit, hot. I always like Marion Cotillard. Kate Hudson's sequence was like a modern pop music video. Fergie was surprisingly good, her "Be Italian" music sequence was the catchiest, and that's when I got the only shivers of the film. (Though me and my sister both kept wondering how uncomfortable it must be for the dancers with all the sand flying at their faces all the time...) Judi Dench's character was my favorite, and her and Guido's dialogues were the best scenes in the poor movie.
I really don't have much more to say. The costumes were nice (though they looked very
Chicago-ish (ok, that's not a word)) and some settings too. But well. It might've looked good, but it doesn't compensate for that sorry excuse for a plot. Me and my sister both agreed that we should've gone for
Fame. We'll know better next time. Choose the one with no Oscar nominations.
"Directing a movie is a very overrated job, we all know it. You just have to say yes or no. What else do you do? Nothing. "Maestro, should this be red?" Yes. "Green?" No. "More extras?" Yes. "More lipstick?" No. Yes. No. Yes. No. That's directing."
Now it's Stand by Me time! Whoo! I'm ready to relate alarmingly well to 12-year-old boys! Bring it oooooon!
