Unbelievable trash - Fellini would turn in his grave. Daniel Day Lewis and Kate Hudson will be ashamed of playing in this forever. Judy Dench - totally miscast. Worst musical score I've ever heard. Cheesy, ugly and pathetic. Zero points.

Rob Marshall proves here that he still having the talent that made Chicago a Best picture winning,it has strong performances from Daniel Day Lewis and Marion Cotillard and dazzling musical sequences.

Probably the worst movie that I have seen in many years.

Nine was a chaotic movie that was long (2.5 hours!) and dragged out. I'd never got the gist of Nine and I was confused of what was going on in most of the scenes. On a positive note, Marion Cotillard was outstanding in Nine and indeed was my favorite of Guido's many women.

This movie depends heavily on Guido Contini character...and Daniel Day Lewis delivered in stunning & stylish way...watching his acting was half the fun of this movie...quit amazing. The actresses, music, cinematography is also above average...enough to gives Nine a 9.

What was Rob Marshall thinking? Or Daniel Day Lewis for that matter? I walked out of the theater. Give me back my Fellini.

Have Being in the Production on Stage i happen to know alot a bout the scrpit and the story behind it. Rob Marshall has showed us the fun of "Getting Away With Murder" and now he shows us the life and adventure of "Cinema Italiano" which in alot of our "American" cases don't understand or want to understand. But Rob Marshall showed us the truth in this film about Italian life and Federico Fellini. I'm only 17 years old and i understood the movie more then half of the older and younger audience. Most people left because they thought it was boring and didnt understand and they wanted a movie with a love and a fun story line and that's not what they got. They got a true and amazing story about a man. i Thought it was liberating and really brought justice to the stage production and to Federico Fellini himself. And for who ever said this movie brought nothing to the arts i'm sorry to tell you that you are sadly mistaken and that it brought more to the arts then any movie or film i have ever come across. It brought true honesty to a man and his "Being Italian" and if you don't call that art then you don't know the true meaning of art and you can not call yourself an artist.… Expand

Sophia Loren, in her 30 second apperance, talks an almost accent-free English with Daniel Day-Lewis, who in his turn sounds like Sophia Loren used to in her early English-speaking films. That's funny!!

I'm really surprised that a lot of critics didn't like this film at all! This movie is WAY better than "Chicago", ever can. The songs are wonderful, the cast is amazing, everything is! I really recommend this movie!

Fun and Flashy. Marion and Pénelope are AMAZING

Unpleasant. Disjointed. Marquee actresses add interest to this otherwise boring film

This was much better than these comments imply. I love musicals (but didn't care for Chicago) and just got back from Italy and I am a film fanatic so this worked for me. It's true it didn't have any truly memorable songs but it was very evocative of its time (the 60's) and the performances were terrific, especially Cotillard.

Much better than the savage reviews. Rob Marshall's homage to Fellini is a ravishing mess of a film with some really fine performances and impressive singing. C'mon, all those beautiful women singing and dancing. If you thought Catherine Zeta Jones was hot in "Chicago," wait til you watch Penelope Lopez melt the screen with her "Guido" number. And Marion Cotilliard is the true north of this story. It's not perfect by a long shot, but it IS mesmerizing.… Expand

I enjoyed Nine! Yes, it has an unconventional structure, but I could follow it. And the production numbers and the performers were very entertaining. Even Day-Lewis sounded just fine with his singing. It is worth seeing.

This musical creatively tells a story about an honored artist's spiritual odyssey. It's a soul's journey of a media frenzied Italian film director, ala Fellini, who has finally met himself in crisis and doesn't like what he has become. He is creatively and ethically bankrupt and must change or perish. At this precipice of his life music, song, dance and beautiful sets play out the emotions of the characters in such a way as to dramatically feel, almost grok, the depiction of the joys, sadness, mortality and resurrection of the infinite human spirit. It's the most brilliant use of the musical medium of film making since the Phantom. However, the flip side sorely seems to be that this musical is another pearl tossed before the swine of critics enamored with but the pornography of violence or the "Shock the Monkey" type of teenage pandering. So.......? I'm afraid we won't get many more of these wonderful creative gems of spiritual dimension. DAMN!… Expand

Great movie! A little weak, but the acting made up for it!

Day-Lewis was terrible. The worst Italian imitation ever. His accent was Eastern European. Totally miscast. And the character was totally unlikeable, bereft of even a hint of charisma. Why would anyone like him, let alone love him? Okay, the women. We see them in the beginning, like a tease on a TV variety show. Starring Nicole Kidman--whom you won't see until the third act. Kate Hudson, who appears in the "reality" portion of the film half the time she's in the fantasy musical number. There is no character for them to play, only types, and they come and go so quickly, there is no time to get to know the characters or have the actress's develop a scintilla of one. Sophia Loren? I dare anyone to repeat a line she said--good or bad--that doesn't have the word Guido in it. What was her song? I couldn't tell you if a knife was at my throat. Marion Cotillard was a wonder. I've never seen her act before and she blew me away. The brightest spot in a lightless film. [Although I generally liked the cinematography.] Penelope Cruz was good, too. And Judi Dench, well, was Judi Dench. You can always depend on that old workhorse. The rest, a big mess. Terrible DDL, terrible songs, and stinky direction. I went in expecting a not-great film but even those low expectations were not met.… Expand

We the people are beyond disappointed with Rob Marshall. Chicago was undeniably a well-acted and well-sung masterpiece. And Nine was the exact opposite- a complete, uncomfortable and utter disaster.

A lame, lame film.

The "Italian" acting in my opinion was kind of in the middle for me...either you exaggerate the funny Italian accent or you do it for real. None of the songs were very interesting at all. I don't understand how a movie with so many top actors wasn't entertaining to me at all.

Certainly not for everyone, yet "Nine" succeeds in being a gorgeous bridge between "8 1/2" and the stage show "Nine." Stunning cinematography, capable singing, and better editing than Marshall's "Chicago," "Nine" is a 9. Fans of gunfire, gratuitous sex, CGI, and The Real World should stay far, far away.

A nightmare of timing with a staggering start leading to a collapse in the middle with an inadequate finish. The music poorly contrived. Though the costumes were beautiful the movie failed to capitalize on the period. Kate Hudson and Fergie had the best numbers and the best choreography. Daniel Day Lewis had the worst.

Beautiful people, costumes, sets and artful music telling the engaging story of a tormented film director trying to bring honesty to his work and life.

I want 2 hours of my life back. This movie will go down as the worst movie of 2009/10. Don't waste your money or time. The trailer makes this movie look better than it was. Gweedo Gweedo Gweedo

Some really good moments of acting and music, costumes, etc., but it was hard to get emotionally involved enough to care about the main characters.

Colossal waste of great talent! I saw 8 1/2 when it first came out and this "musical" is a vague, mumbled mess of a movie. I wanted to like it but couldn't. The music was straight out of "Cabaret" and was more German than Italian. Shame on you!

One of the worst movies I ever saw. Totally disjointed. Avoid.

It's funny how people come on here and just give a movies bad grades wthout having watched them. One guy said the movie was 2.5 hours....guess he watched something else. This movie was definitely not a masterpiece, but the critics got this completely wrong...it was not as as bad as they made it out to be. It was just a good satisfying and entertaining time at the movies. The numbers were great, the acting was better, the story was a little thin and underdeveloped. Some say it was chaotic, it's meant to be that way...we're supposed to get a feel for Guido's frustration. Some characters were underdeveloped and thus seemed out of place, thats the writing...too much was cut out that should have stayed. In fact i wish the movie was 2.5 hours, maybe it would have been better. I'd still give it a 7, and i'll bump it up one because the acting was excellent! Judi Dench is completely underrated in this movie...she was great!… Expand

Too many women! At least Sophia Loren (cold and rigid) and Nicole Kidman (cold and distant) were two that I think were badly cast. The best? Marion Cotillard and the song "Be Italian" which I did hum on the way home!

While few musical numbers are well filmed and staged,most of the film is dull. A generous 6 for fine cinematography!

I didn't like Marshall's new musical. I enjoyed 'Chicago' a lot, but 'Nine' is not a good film. I just liked Penelope Cruz's performance. She's a goddess, a great actress.

It is what it was on the stage. it did not have the stry of the movie "8 1/2". "Nine" the movie needed to be grounded in story and character...where were the women's character? still great work by Marshall.

Shoot Me Now. Possibly the most boring movie I ever saw. Run!

A mess of emotionless overproduction, wretched songs, terrible acting and disorganized writing. Easily the worst film of 2009.

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

The golden globes, by nominating Nine for Best Picture and 4 other awards, have lost all credibility. Todd McCarthy's review for Variety lost him all credibility. Anyone with a brain for criticism and honesty knows this movie is horrendous. Laughable until it's not funny anymore. Laughable until its time to leave the theater.

I have to say I'm shocked by the negative reviews this movie got. Many people claiming it to be the worst of 09. Shocking. Personally one of, if not my favourite movie of 2009 and but it looks like those of us who enjoyed it are very short in number meaning unfortunately a lot of people won't even give it a chance. If you have ever experienced creative blocks and love the Italian culture from the 60s then you can't help but enjoy this movie. It looks fantastic, all the stars put in great performances and unlike what others have said, has some great and memorable songs. I can't say I was a massive fan of Chicago and didn't really enjoy Moulin Rouge, but for me, this movie was incredible. Do yourself a favour and watch it and make up your own mind. You might be surprised.… Expand

Good performances, but it reminded me of Thurdays nights, because I was like completely LOST. =P

This musical is downright perfect in every direction it goes. The songs, actors, everything is perfect in this wonderful movie by Rob Marshall.

The cast gave it their all, but this movie is completely devoid of any point of connection or relatability for the audience. It is impossible to care about any of these characters, no matter the skill of the actors portraying them(Cottilard is possibly the only exception). You can't even sit back and enjoy the dance numbers because the choreography is lost among the editing and the tunes are just dirge. Terrible.… Expand

Emotionless crap. Pretentious and avant garde for the sake of it. Lacks a good story line and substance. The songs feature awful lyricism. It's a dud. Worst film i've ever seen.

Question: who thought this was filmmable? What's wrong with Kidman's face, it never moves. This film is misogyny incarnate. Every woman is either a slut or a virgin and there only to kneel to men. Yes it deserves an award for worst film in recent memory.

Absolutely the worst freaking junk of 2009. The lyrics to the tiring, boring, exhausting, and blaring songs were absolutely emotionless and meandering. The plot goes nowhere, and there's no central theme. Daniel-Day Lewis and Nicole Kidman and Sophia Loren and Judie Dench are all fine, accomplished actors but are truly horrible in this film, doing absolutely nothing but standing around, smoking, and singing. The costumes were flat and not spectacular at all, and overall, this "musical" was nothing but nothing.… Expand

I really liked it, am shocked my favorite critics who I usually agree with didn't.

Excellent film! A little chaotic, but so was 8 1/2.

Fun, energetic, great time at a theatre.

I rated this one a seven because it lacked movie magic. That feeling you get when the movie ends and you feel like you just experienced something great and you cannot wait to tell everyone what an amazing movies it was. I loved the costumes and I even liked the story and the layout of the film. Great performance by Marion Cotillard. My only complaint as I said above is the magic.

The spirit of William

Another film about a self destructive man al la "All that Jazz". where the music wasn't as good, the story wasn't as good. But you do have an all star cast, most of them can't sing, but hey who needs to sing in a musical.

I would rather have bamboo splints stuck under my fingernails then be subjected to this mess. This is awful as nothing works. Not a memorable song or dance routine in the entire movie. And Judy Dench singing please! Every song is BAD!

First of all, i'm sorry but, Daniel Day Lewis is totally wrong for the lead in Nine, they should have stayed with Javier Bardem. Second, with a cast like Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cottilard and Kate Hudson you'd think someone would step up and deliver an Oscar worthy performance, but it's Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie who steals the movie with her appointed number - "Be Italian". The whole movie plays like an assembly line of musical numbers where each actress gets their 15 minutes then on to the next. The production is visually stunning and should be nominated for alot of technical Oscars, but the movie just doesn't connect with the augience. A major disappointment consifering all involved.… Expand

This movie had no plot whatsoever. The songs didn't add anything to the story, it was a repetition of what we already knew about the characters. This is probably one of the worst movies I have seen this year. What a waste of time and money.

I have _not_ seen the movie, only a clip of P. Cruz dancing and singing, and now I hear that Weinstein will pull the movie from theaters. I would like to comment that if the rest of the movie is of the same quality as Cruz's singing in the clip circulating on the late-night shows, I'm not surprised the movie is doing poorly. Her dancing may be okay, but her singing is definitely sub-par. I hate to say it, but her voice simply is not made for singing, and and if the director could miss an obvious quality like that then he probably missed some other things as well. Just my two cents.… Expand

Stunningly bad. How could so many people with so much collective tallent produce something so worthless? Vapid lyrics, mediocre choreography, innane story. This movie comes at you until you can no longer stand it. Like watching a Slasher film--how will this next starlet's appeal be killed, you wonder as each breaks into innane son.

Fellini is going to rise from his grave and kill those responsible for this steaming pile.

This movie is quite simply a masterpiece. Rob Marshall has bettered himself since Chicago and made a dark, quirky, emotionally rich work of art. Beyond the visuals is a real heart and a thoughtful examination of crises, relationships, the creative process and being creatively and emotionally stymied. All of the performances are pitch-perfect. Magnificent!!!!!!!!!!!

This film is nearly a complete failure. Difficult to watch, boring through most of its length, except for Cotillard's early scenes. The musical numbers are superfluous and totally unnecessary to the storytelling. A sad, alienating failure and a big step backward for the movie musical genre.

We were very disappointed. None of the songs were interesting or catchy, and there wasn't a storyline or plot - very chaotic. We sat through the entire thing hoping that something was going to happen that would help justify the money that we spent but were left wishing we had seen Avatar again instead.

Visually artistic but that is where the good points end. This movie was terrible, boring, and disappointing. I was hoping for an entertaining musical like Chicago or Moulin Rouge, but got a two hour snooze-fest without a cohesive storyline or catchy tune. Save your money!

Very loosely based on the award-winning stage play but misses the growth the play showed. Good acting but only two numbers (Fergie & Kate Hudson) are up to Rob Marshall's standards. The rest are lame at best. Has all the charm of cardboard. The trailer should win the Oscar for best performance not depicting the movie.

"But I wonder how many fervent admirers he has today?" asks film historian David Thomson, at the end of his entry on Federico Fellini in "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film". Probably more, back in 1982 as the original production of "Nine" made its debut on Broadway, in which the crowds lining up for the Tony Award-winning show would be more hip to Fellini's "8 1/2", since the Italian filmmaker was alive, and that Woody Allen had brought attention to the 1965 classic when he used it as a template for "Stardust Memories", just two years earlier. Today, however, the more suitable question, a question that nobody thought to have propounded on, before "Nine" was, at long last, finally given the green light, should have been this: "How many people out there even know who Fellini is?" The filmmaker has a problem, a pretty fundamental one, that dooms "Nine" from the start. If moviegoers know nothing about this titan of Italian cinema, how are they supposed to sympathize with such an insufferable prick like Guido(Daniel Day Lewis)? Without the backstory of Fellini's celebrated filmography, in other words, without a working knowledge of film art(rather than film product: the event film, the blockbuster) as an excuse for Guido's transgressions, this artist with writer's block seems like nothing more than your garden variety womanizer. "Nine" arrives at theaters too late. Film culture is dead. Far-removed from that whole "cult of the director" of yesteryear, even the most fervent admirer may now realize that "La dolce vita"(or "Amarcord", take your pick), would be no excuse for cheating on your wife, and then, in turn, cheating on your mistress, and so on, and so on.… Collapse

Daniel Day Lewis speaking in that terrible imitation of an italian accent. That's probably the best part of the film.

You know what made Seinfeld great? It was a show about nothing that was fantasically funny. Nine is a movie about nothing that is neither funny, interesting, and offers nothing to the arts.

Well, 'Nine' surely is not Rob Marshall's masterpiece (especially after 'Chicago' and 'Memoirs of a Geisha'), but it does have some good points.
First of, technically, there is not much to say against it. Good costumes and set design, nice cinematography and good enough music. The performances are very good, especially Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Penelope Cruz, once again, proves that she is a very versatile performer and excellently pin-points the Italian accent for the role of Contini's mistress. Cotillard is also excellent, but somewhat underwhelming after her amazing performance in 'La Vie en Rose'. However, the rest of the cast is very good, too. Daniel Day-Lewis is not as good as usual, but still decent. Judi Dench is, well.. somewhat disturbing, but still ok. Nicole Kidman is perfect as the actress-diva of the 60s, but is somewhat underused, since the first half of the film is just building up for her arrival and then: nothing. Lovely performance and singing, though. The story is hard to follow and at the end of the film one wonders what it was all about. A writers block? A mid-life crisis? Many women? A man who does not know what he wants with his life? With his film? Seems ironical, since it reflects Rob Marshall's confusion over what to do with this film, for he surely could have done a much better job.… Expand

I thought "Chicago" was brilliant and enjoyable, but with a story so thin that it evaporated from one's mind before one got home from the theater. By contrast, "Nine" has some brilliant and enjoyable song-and-dance performances, but virtually no story at all! To me, it's a waste of a lot of excellent actors, but people who are deeply appreciative of song-and-dance efforts might find it worthwhile.… Expand

only good parts were when Penelope Cruz was on screen..worth renting if nothing else..........................................................................................................................................

A film's stylistic vision is perhaps the aspect of film that I most personally adore. But although a film may employ all of the chic characteristics possible, it is completely futile if it possesses a lack of plot. Unfortunately, this is ultimately the importune description of Rob Marshall's(Chicago, Memoirs of a Geisha) Nine.

Nine is a story of a director, Guido Contini (Daniel Day Lewis), that finds himself in a creative rut and endless romantic quandaries. So in facile terminology, the film is a story solely about writer's block. Though I was doubtful of the mundane premise, I was positive that the music and art direction of the film would compensate for it. While I was somewhat satisfied with the musical numbers- particularly Marion Cotillard's Take It All- it did not possess enough meaning to have any sort of relative significance when watching the film.

Before exemplifying the logic of my criticism, I must compliment the brilliance of the art direction within Nine. The choreography of the film is just mesmerizing as Fergie and her company effortlessly implement images of sand combined with dance. Also, the transition between gray scale and color in Kate Hudson's number was just simply creative in the way it depicted modernness versus antiquity. Penelope Cruz does execute an adequate performance, but having only a small portion on screen, I find myself confused of her Best Actress nomination. The true star of the film is Marion Cotillard, the subtle but complex manner of her performances is perhaps the highlight of the film. If you enjoyed her performance in french biopic La Vie En Rose, you will undoubtedly find satisfaction in this portion of the film.

Here is the characteristic of the film that makes all of the above compliments ineffective: the numbers are stringed in immensely vague manner. Many of the performances occur abruptly, with hardly no lead-in or relevance to the plot. What it comes down to is that Nine resembles MTV prior to the 2000s decade. It is just a series of music videos that only slightly are relevant towards each other. The plot is so weak, that it cannot support the brilliance of the art direction. It is hard to enjoy the sequences if they hardly have any sense. This leads me to question, who wants to watch a film about writer's block? Additionally, it does not help if the lyrics are so meaningless and simple (one of the chorus lines is "my husband makes movies").

If you are solely watching Nine for the musical performances, then it will fulfill that desire. But overall, Nine is not as a whole a good film. There is no memorable plot, which ultimately makes the music hollow and meaningless. Nine is an impressive sequence of music numbers, not an overall splendid film.… Expand

I wish I could have graded 2 and 1/8ths because "nine" the movie is exactly that, the original 8 1/2 turned into a musical, then turned into a movie again, losing half of its potency with every transformation. too bad that marion cotillard's elegance is wasted on "nine".

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This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the movie´s photography is simply perfect, i swear i love it´s scenography, BUT the movie, it´s kind of boring, i admit i like every kind of movies like musicals, historic drama´s but i was REALLY bored. Penelope Cruz actuation was not bad at all, but i consider that is NOT that greatful to be nominated for AcademyAwrds. . I thnk that the movie get´s so long, without an important topic, at the end, WHO cares Contini ? .… Expand

This movie was an insult to musical theatre. I honestly think it was the worst movie I have ever seen. I could hardly sit through it. Of all the musicals to turn into a movie, this was not the one.

This movie was very poor. There was very little story development and half the time you couldn't even tell what was going on. Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench stood out in terms of her acting, but the needless overuse of risque poses really let this one down. I really did not enjoy this and was spending a lot of the movie hoping for it to end.

Overall the movie falls very short of being much more than a composite work that fails. Individually the film is filmed with performances that had they been somehow blended with each other it might have been much more satisfying. Lewis was an excellent choice for the protoganist but he has his limitations. The women each in their own way deliver the goods it's the goods they are asked to deliver that are questionable, and not so much the goods as to the way in which they are asked to deliver them. Cruz, Coitllard and Loren are excellent within their limitations. Kidman is quite good as is Dench and Fergie. Only Kate Hudson seems lost in the shuffle and in many respects just wasn't needed. The cohesion is missing. That's the failing.… Expand

I don't understand why so many people hate this movie. It's such a luscious film. Perhaps the only downside is being unable to understand Penelope Cruz when she's singing. Fergie's "Be Italian" is one of the best musical numbers ever. This movie is poignant, fabulous, and charming.

Daniel Day-Lewis is most definitely not in his best form; but Marion Cotillard,who steals the show, and help from the other women in this cast make this musical a triumph. Although not a single song is really entertaining enough to keep you engaged the whole time. I give this film 76%.