"Nine" is a strange film. Directed with an assured balance that cuts deftly between real life, fantasy and flashback, it's a romanticized portrait of an artistic philanderer who is based on film director Federico Fellini. The film is at its best when Daniel Day Lewis (Guido-the fictionalized Fellini) is struggling with his mistress or wife while battling artistic constipation. It's intriguing when director Rob Marshal faithfully recreates or at least echoes scenes from Fellini's best films. That stuff is kind of cool.
It's the fantasy sequences (basically the musical sequences) that sink this film. They are not extensions of the story but rather interrupt its flow. Marshal doesn't have what he had in "Chicago", namely a quality song score. The songs aren't even close to engaging. It makes for a mixed bag that leaves us as an audience cold and distanced. But if you're a real Fellini fan, you might find enough here to make the film going experience worthwhile. Fellini's "8 1/2" (the source material for the musical) is a great film, but some stories just don't lend themselves to musical adaptation. I felt this way about the Broadway show as well.
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