Nine

Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: December 18, 2009

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

49	METASCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critics

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

VarietyTodd McCarthy

Sophisticated, sexy and stylishly decked out, Rob Marshall's disciplined, tightly focused film impresses and amuses. Read full review

Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

The carnival is loud, brash, brassy, sexy and sometimes tacky or silly, but always entertaining. Read full review

EmpireAlastair Plumb

Though slightly marred by a clunky structure and a lack of truly catchy tunes, Nine’s wall-to-wall first-rate performances from its stellar cast (especially Cotillard) add a touch of class. Read full review

ReelViewsJames Berardinelli

Despite following its stage inspiration and bringing structure to Fellini's "8 1/2" (the ultimate source material), Nine still suffers at times from a lack of narrative drive and it doesn't have the surreal, dreamlike quality of "8 1/2" to fall back upon. Read full review

Rolling StonePeter Travers

Rob Marshall's flawed but frequently dazzling Nine is a hot-blooded musical fantasia full of song, dance, raging emotion and simmering sexuality. Read full review

Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer

Deft and fast-moving, but shouldn’t a musical have at least a few songs you can hum on your way home? Read full review

Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips

The movie is shot and edited like a two-hour trailer for itself. As such, it's not hard to take, but you do tend to wonder when the film itself is going to start. Read full review

Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman

It seems perverse to say a musical is at its best when nobody is singing, but Nine is a perverse kind of musical. Read full review

Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey

A spectacle where A-list talent strives mightily to elevate a C-plus effort. Read full review

St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams

As much Fosse as Fellini. It’s a shadow of a shadow, refracted through a fun-house mirror. For all the noise and color, it feels like an exercise and not a natural expression. Read full review

New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman

The magic simply isn't there. Read full review

SalonStephanie Zacharek

All of these women, and Day-Lewis too, sing and dance vigorously and enthusiastically throughout Nine, and the results are spotty, though you can't accuse anyone of not trying. Read full review

SlateDana Stevens

This kind of movie is superfluous yet strangely compelling. We don't need to see Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman sing a duet next to a Roman fountain any more than we need to see an elephant pirouette in a tutu, but wouldn't you be crazy to pass up the opportunity to see either? Read full review

Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

The numbers, while lively, remain cluttered and stage-bound. The women, however, are spirited and sexy. Read full review

The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

The disappointments here are many, from a starry cast the film ill-uses to flat musical numbers that never fully integrate into the dramatic story. The only easy prediction is that Nine is not going to revive the slumbering musical-film genre. Read full review

The New YorkerAnthony Lane

One is forced to ask: who wants to make, or watch, a major Hollywood musical about mental block? Read full review

The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps

A joyless trudge, particularly when compared to Fellini’s vibrant original? Read full review

USA TodayClaudia Puig

We'd all like to live in an Italian movie. So says a character in Nine, and it's probably the best line in this musical misfire. Read full review

Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones

With its stagy dance numbers, this reminded me more of Bob Fosse's confessional musical "All That Jazz" than "8 1/2," though it suffers from comparison to either, given that Marshall is several steps removed from Fellini's feverish self-investigation. Read full review

Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

Nine is just plain adrift in its own lack of necessity. Read full review

Boston GlobeWesley Morris

The movie is full of risible pontifications about the nature of art but falls well short of capturing the angst of creative frustration. Read full review

Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez

Nine isn't so much a movie as it is a collection of standalone musical numbers, strung together by the thinnest of plots. Read full review

Portland OregonianShawn Levy

Eventually, the inconsistency wears, and the film provokes mostly indifference and restlessness. Read full review

The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey

Unassuming only in its title. Read full review

TimeRichard Corliss

After a while, Nine plays like some Hollywood charity revue. Read full review

Time OutKeith Uhlich

Let’s not dance around it: Nine--is a dud. Read full review

Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten

Though there is plenty of razzle-dazzle onscreen, Nine is unlikely to ignite many sparks among viewers. Read full review

New York PostLou Lumenick

In the clumsy hands of director Rob Marshall, this tacky, all-star botch more closely resembles a video catalog for Victoria’s Secret. Read full review

Village VoiceScott Foundas

Wisely keeping her distance, Cotillard mostly lurks along the sidelines projecting a wounded visage, before finally stepping into the spotlight for the movie's single moment of emotional sincerity. It's the only point at which Nine seems more than a total zero. Read full review

Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

Because Nine is a musical, it would help if your leading man could sing, and I don't mean carry a tune, but actually flex some vocal muscle. Again, love Daniel Day-Lewis, excellent racing shirtless through the forest, but a song-and-dance man he is not. So what does that leave Nine with? Well not much. Read full review

The New York TimesA.O. Scott

Straining to capture artistic frenzy, it descends into vulgar chaos, less a homage to Federico Fellini’s “8 ½” (its putative inspiration) than a travesty. Read full review

San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle

John Lennon once said, "There's a great woman behind every idiot." This time, I'm counting seven of them. Read full review

Washington PostAnn Hornaday

It's a film within a film about a film within a film, and seems to lose layers of authenticity with each iteration, finally becoming a profoundly alienating experience. Read full review