When I saw the trailer for 'Nine' a few months ago, I immediately sent it to my brother Kevin and my friend Pete because we are all obsessed with Daniel Day Lewis. We all believe he is the best actor of this generation and he is incapable of giving a non-electrifying performance.
Then I read the reviews--37% from top critics at rottentomatoes.com. Even with the cast and the record of Director Rob Marshall, everyone confirmed that it still sucked. Needless to say, Katie and I still wanted to see it and figured we would just go in with low expectations. After viewing it last Wednesday, our strategy did not help much. I never thought I would say this, but DDL failed to pull it off. Never once in the film did I not think he was himself trying to portray a Fellini-esque, Italian director. Couldn't nail down the accent. Couldn't really carry a note. Just didn't exude an Italian demeanor; something the main song of the film, 'Be Italian' demanded.
It wasn't just DDL though. The story simply failed to deliver. There were only two decent songs and the rest were completely forgettable. The best performance was definitely by Fergie, and the fact that she was the only cast member who has legit singing talent was definitely apparent.They seemed forced, as opposed to Chicago where they fit into the plot and dialogue perfectly. Most of the numbers either made no sense or were just flat out boring.
The cinematography was still good and there is some stunning imagery throughout the film. But that's about it. Even with the slam-dunk concept and the amazing cast, it was a pretty lame show. Marshall didn't fool anyone.
