Lots of money spent giving incredibly beautiful visuals with some extraordinary performances by a stellar cast, in this monotonous dull and lifeless movie. What a shame. The cast obviously poured their hearts out, and worked their asses off. The production design and cinematography are award worthy. The directing is absolutely horrendous. Atrocious. Horrible. Hey Rob, where you put the camera is really important. I couldn't see inside any of these characters! I never felt sympathetic, empathetic, or even slightly connected to any of these characters. Sad, cause the actors brought it. The movie never showed it to the audience. When Guido (Daniel Day-Lewis) kneels at his Mother's (Sophia Loren) feet and admits his faults, we see his hair back-lit. I will bet had the camera actually looked into his eyes we might have had something there. One hour and forty five minutes into the movie, the conflict with the wife happened. Finally some real drama. Had that been the first scene I might have decided to care about this man's journey. Kate Hudson's number was the highlight of the film, although completely disconnected from the story. But then again, everything is disconnected. And there really is no story. And making a film with an Italian sensibility in the English language is probably an impossibility. Remember when they dubbed "La Vita e Bella" into English? That, like Fellini's work was beautiful in Italian. It sucked in English. I say, leave the making of Italian films to Italian filmmakers. Uhhhgggg. Thanks for the free screening, But I sincerely wish I could have those two hours back.
Review of Nine
