Nice effects though.

Just perfect...

How sad is this?

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

The original "8 1/2" worked because of how Fellini perceived it as an analogy of the troubled minds of great artists. A combination of ego, artistic integrity, mental illness, repression, arrested development and the unconscious desire to be loved and cherished beyond all human incapability. It's a noble try to take the rather obscure Broadway musical hit that had a cult following but was nearly forgotten by the time of its 2002 revival. With so many musicals needing a film version, "Nine" was a surprising choice, but having seen the original with Raul Julia and the revival with both Antonio Banderas and john Stamos, I was curious to see what they did with it.The Maury Yeston score is perhaps one of the most beautiful, complex to sing, and a challenge to any singing actor, let alone a non-singing one. For Daniel Day Lewis to take the part of director Guido Contini on was a delightful choice, and he is excellent. He's a combination of all the aspects I mention in my first paragraph, although his ego is subtle and never makes him cocky. Marianne Cotillard is a perfect choice for his long suffering wife, with Penelope Cruz deliciously sexy as his mistress. All of the women in his 40 years are introduced in the excellently staged opening, with big first shots of everybody revealing something about their character. The shot of the legendary Sophia Loren as his mother is an emotional one that still has me tearing up. But it becomes obvious very quickly that there is too much going on, and it becomes rather dizzying to try and catch everything. While I like the work of Judi Dench normally, I did not really embrace her as a former Folies Bergere headliner, and would have preferred Chita Rivera in the part. Dench sings acceptably as do a good majority of the non- singing actors, but she just wasn't right for this part. The musical numbers also worked better in stage, and "Nine" should be more than just a two hour music video with occasional dramatic scenes edited in. But I can't fault director Rob Marshall who tried to strike "Chicago" magic again. The film doesn't flow all that well, and there just seems to be just a desire to see the film make its point and move on. Some aspects of it really prove the idea that this is not going to be a movie musical that one would want to see over and over again. Intentions are right, but something of a spark is definitely missing.

Every artist at some point in his life ends up being lost and wants to escape his own reality. He creates his own world by his own rules, lacking inspiration and things to say. Then lying becomes a habit and everything goes out of hand. But in the end of the day, we know that art is about beauty and therefore it has to be about truth. With "8 1/2", Fellini found a way to free himself from all the things that he carried on his back. He opened his heart to the world and broke all the rules of cinema, making one of the best author movies ever.The subject of the both films is the director's own struggle. However, "Nine", was a totally different film. In my opinion "8 1/2" is about Fellini himself, whereas "Nine" is about Fellini's life seen through Rob Marshall's eyes. It felt like i was watching "8 1/2" in color. Nevertheless, i had some problems with the beginning of the film. It was too long before i caught up with the character's empathy and confusion, until very late in the film, when Kate Hudson "stole the show" with a very brief but amazing performance of a woman from a fashion world. Eventually, every woman in the film brings different tone and shape of Guido's world. They are all part of his chaotic life."Nine" obviously does not have the depth of "8 1/2", but the musical sequences which intersect the narrative, every time some of the characters want to confess something, give the film a more playful and cheerful tone. I found them very helpful for the story and liberating at time. Daniel Day Lewis did a really good job as Guido Contini, being a confused but lovable director, who lost his touch with reality by wanting to be everywhere at the same time, when in the end ends up being in a labyrinth of lies. "Nine" is also some kind of American tribute for the Italian neorealism, one of the best and sexiest periods of cinema as well. This is a film about every person who is lost and finds it very difficult to be present in his own reality. It's always hard to make your work personal, but that's the only way. Thus, you never have to lie. It is very important for an artist not to lie, and most important is not to lie to himself. 8/10

First, I'd like to let you know the good things about this film:Well acted. It's not a surprise because all these well known stars are good and always have been. Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard give the best performances of the film, and of course Daniel Day-Lewis is a believable Guido.Nice musical numbers. The musical numbers are well acted too and have a good photography. Once again, Penélope Cruz and Marion Cotillard give the best dancing sequences, Dame Judi Dench is also very fun in hers and Fergie's voice shines in hers (she's the only one who's a singer). Good art direction and costume design.The bad things.Fergie's performance. She's clearly not an actress. It's not an awful performance, but she's below everyone else. Her best moment comes in her musical part when she shows that voice of hers, nobody sings as good as her. She's got a very little screen time, so don't let this make you not watch the film if you're interested.The screenplay. It's the only (and big) mistake of the film. It doesn't go anywhere since it's only some scene and then a musical number that don't make it advance at all. Without the musical numbers, the film would be like 40 minutes long.So... It's not a bad film, but it's mediocre, the musical numbers are the ones saving it from being a total bore. I'd recommend it if you like musicals and want to see all these good and beautiful actresses work with Daniel Day-Lewis who's also a very good actor. But don't even look at its poster if you want a good story to go along with the singing and dancing.

Daniel Day-Lewis plays Guido, an Italian film director in the sixties. Lewis is surrounded by a first rate cast. Dame Judi Dench plays Lili, his costume designer and confidante. She is quite good at singing Moulin Rouge. His mother is played by legendary and ageless Sophia Loren. Fergy plays and sings a song. Kate Hudson is adequate as the American journalist and sings "Cinema Italiano." Marion Cotillard plays his long suffering wife while Penelope Cruz plays his mistress. The film is Rob Marshall's follow up from his "Chicago." While the cast and crew are first rate, the film seems to be lacking a storyline ad to Guido. The cast and crew appear to have a good time though.