The Nines (Special Edition)
by John August
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DVD details
Actor: David Denman, Elle Fanning, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, Ryan ReynoldsDirector: John August
Brand: REYNOLDS,RYAN
Writer: John August
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen, 1.85:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-01-29
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of The Nines (Special Edition)
DVD Review: A fun, metaphysical puzzler
Summary: 4 Stars
NOTE: Some of the reviews here (like the one below by Grady) spoil the movie by basically giving you a plot synopsis, including the epiphany towards the end. Read some of the reviews here with caution.
John August is someone who impressed me back in 1999 with a witty script for the zany ensemble piece entitled Go. Directed by a up-and-coming director by the name of Doug Liman (Bourne Identity, Swingers), Go offered a straight-forward story that was constantly twisted due to a change of perspective as we saw the story from different characters. The way it weaved in and out made the movie a lot more interesting that it probably should have been.
Now, we have The Nines, not only written by John August but also directed by him, and it shares a few similarities with his big debut, Go. However, it's infinitely more intriguing, intelligent and frustrating than Go could ever be. The Nines is comprised of three short stories featuring Ryan Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis playing different characters.
The first film has Reynolds playing a blockbuster actor who is in house arrest, with McCarthy playing a publicist and Davis the next door neighbor. As the scenario continues, Reynolds' character becomes convinced the house is haunted. The second film has Reynolds as an effeminate TV screenwriter who is being followed around by a reality TV camera as they film his progress to make a pilot. During this, McCarthy plays Reynolds' best friend while Davis is a TV exec. The final scenario has Reynolds, a high profile video game designer, married to McCarthy. Their car breaks down in a forest and when Reynolds goes to find help, discovers Davis.
The way the film works is that each episode builds on each other, presenting a different perspective while also sharing common themes. The way the puzzle pieces fit together and the epiphany towards the end of the film creates a startling new take on the film as a whole. August does a terrific job of creating common themes and a central thread that goes between each episode and even when it's over and you still aren't quite sure what happened, you never feel cheated.
It's a very heady film that's more intelligent than a lot of films that share similar themes. While I can't reference the particular films without going into heavy spoiler territory, I will say that The Nines touches on religion, philosophy, technology, reality and how everything intersects. It also seems intent on discussing life as a whole and the entire concept of creation and creators. It's no coincidence that all of the scenarios are based on people living a certain kind of reality that is more "reelity" than "reality."
The weight of the film rests on the shoulders of the terrific cast. Reynolds, in particular, shows that he's more than Mr. Van Wilder and plays three starkly different characters with aplomb that belies his earlier roots in teen comedy. This is by far his best role and it was amazing watching him in these three roles. Meanwhile, The Nines also shares an actress with Go: Melissa McCarthy. She steals the show and is a ray of light in every scene she's in. Hope Davis is always enjoyable, and her characters play a very interesting role in the story as a whole, but, for me, McCarthy is tops.
The Nines is a film you'll want to watch with people who you can have an intelligent conversation with. It's a complicated film that, unlike so many today, doesn't provide you with all the answers. Even when the resolution occurs, you won't have all the pieces in your hands. Watching the included short film is as close as you'll come to an answer. So, the best bet is to watch it with people who will want to talk about it, because The Nines is definitely a talking-about film.
I'd definitely recommend it to fans of metaphysical puzzles and movies that don't provide easy answers. An intelligent, thoughtful and entertaining film.
Description of The Nines (Special Edition)
The Nines consists of three short films, each featuring the same actors in different ? and sometimes overlapping ? roles. Together, three stories form a single narrative that explores the relationships between author and character, actor and role, creator and creation. Alternately funny and unsettling, The Nines is like a riddle where the answer is the question: "How does it all add up?" "The Prisoner" tells the story of a troubled television star (Reynolds) who finds himself under house arrest, with his chipper publicist (McCarthy) and his disillusioned next-door neighbor (Davis) providing his only links to the outside world. Mysterious events lead him to question whether one or more of the women are deceiving him about the nature of his incarceration. "Reality Television" is a half-hour episode of "Behind the Screen," a Project Greenlight-style documentary series tracking the process of creating a network television drama. "Knowing" finds an acclaimed videogame designer (Reynolds) and his wife (McCarthy) facing car trouble deep in the woods. Their daughter (Elle Fanning) uncovers information which leads to a difficult and irrevocable choice.Worlds collide in most unusual ways in The Nines, marking the feature directorial debut of John August, screenwriter of such offbeat wonders as Big Fish, Corpse Bride, and Titan A.E.. Ryan Reynolds plays Gary, a Hollywood television actor whose crack cocaine escapades land him under house arrest. A no-nonsense publicist (Melissa McCarthy) who specializes in rehabilitating bad-boy stars for public consumption keeps Gary in line until a sexy neighbor (Hope Davis) makes him wonder if his reality is truly all it seems to be. Indeed, once the question is asked, another world washes away the last one: this time Reynolds plays Gavin, a TV showrunner whose best friend (McCarthy) is dropped from his new series after a network executive (Davis) manipulates him. A watchful viewer of The Nines will begin to note that certain themes and bits of dialogue overlap the first two segments of the film, and that certain key lines (e.g., "You?re not a man") are laced with double meanings. A haunting resonance, a sense that everything is imbued with some unknown quality or secret, overtakes one?s deepest experience of the movie. That feeling only grows in the final third of the story, in which Reynolds becomes Gabriel, a doting husband and father who leaves his wife (McCarthy) and child (Elle Fanning) with their stalled family car while he fetches help. Along the way he meets a wary stranger (Davis), and nothing is the same again. Everything loops into everything else in August?s clever story, which taps into that profound sense of alienation and dislocation most of us feel at one time or another, and pushes it toward the realm of myth. Fans of Donnie Darko may well find The Nines equally intriguing. --Tom Keogh
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