The Nines (DVD)

The Nines is a movie that would try the patience of a saint within the first few minutes, one minute borderline hysterical, the next sombrely morose. I found myself 9 minutes in wanting to eject the disc and do something else, ideally cranial surgery on one of my dogs. Hmmmm 9 minutes, and the movie's title is The Nines, surely this is just a coincidence? No it was not, minute 9 is just one of the many moments of The Nines that give you deep food for thought. Several years ago the movie Donnie Darko managed to create a synergy of a multitude of genres from comedy to science fiction, and horror; The Nines seems to embrace this and run with it further than Darko ...  Read the complete review

I think the best word to describe 'The Nines' is ambitious, three tenuously linked vignettes an excuse for a bit of twaddle. It's not brilliantly cast either, this too glossy for what it's trying to be. What ever that is. Having six-pack actor Ryan Reynolds in the lead was the first mistake, even though that type of actor was relevant to the complex narrative themes of vanity and public expectation and interaction it was exploring. No offence to Ryan but this script is way over his pretty little head. This film was Michael Gondry territory and sadly the wrong people got hold of it and so a chance was missed to make an interesting movie. Its either that or I totally ...  Read the complete review

note: also appears on my film review site, ShaunMunro.co.uk! Is it fair to attest that Ryan Reynolds has endured a harsh rap throughout his career thus far? Certainly, although he does himself no favours in starring in a slew of unintelligible endeavours, such as the likes of The Amityville Horror remake, and the unintentionally, laughably bad Blade: Trinity. The Nines, if anything, is proof that Reynolds, with the right script, is a talented actor, and can carry a well-developed motion picture on his shoulders. Like the other works of John August, such as writing the fantastic Go and the inventive Big Fish, The Nines has its quirks, although they ...  Read the complete review

Every once in a while you see a film that can either be construed as a complete mess or a well crafted thriller that doesn't conform to the norm and leaves you with questions rather than answers. The Nines is one of those films, some will wonder why they've wasted their time, others will delve into various theories after the credits roll. The film is a three-pronged story. The first part features the star of a successful TV cop show (Ryan Reynolds) who accidentally set's fire to his girlfriends house and is left under house arrest. He spends his days wandering around a house that is not his, the only human interaction he has is with a next-door ...  Read the complete review

I'll be perfectly honest with you upfront. Not many films confuse me. There aren't too many where I'll have to have a real think about what just happened or sit hapily watching a scene knowing exactly what's going on, only for the last 3 seconds of it to confuse the hell out of me. This one, well it kinda did. But, please please don't let that sway you away from this movie. The Nines features Ryan Reynolds who plays 3 different characters - and really, they are different. Each seem to have ultimately the same goal and feature the same people in their lives - just all in different ways... As the film goes on, you find out just what The ...  Read the complete review