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Movies / On DVD / The Nines
The Nines

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The Nines (2007)

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Reviews Counted:58

Fresh:39

Rotten:19

Average Rating:6/10

Consensus: Though The Nines doesn't solidify as well as writer/director John August would hope for, Ryan Reynolds's strong performance makes each of the film's intriguing segments worth watching.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for language, some drug content and sexuality.

Runtime: 1 hr 42 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:30-11-2007

Synopsis: John August, who has written such diverse films as GO, BIG FISH, CORPSE BRIDE, and CHARLIE'S ANGELS, makes his directorial debut with THE NINES, a complex, thought-provoking work divided into three... John August, who has written such diverse films as GO, BIG FISH, CORPSE BRIDE, and CHARLIE'S ANGELS, makes his directorial debut with THE NINES, a complex, thought-provoking work divided into three sections and featuring the same actors playing different roles, with the number nine always lurking in the background. In "The Prisoner," Ryan Reynolds plays Gary, a TV star who has been placed under house arrest after going crazy because his girlfriend dumped him. He is watched closely by Margaret (Melissa McCarthy, from THE GILMORE GIRLS), a publicist who seems to know more than she is letting on, and by neighbor Sarah (Hope Davis), who is instantly attracted to him. In "Reality Television," Reynolds is a director named Gavin who is shooting a TV pilot starring McCarthy (playing a version of herself), but he's getting mixed signals from studio executive Susan (Davis), all while being filmed for a television reality program. And in "Knowing," Reynolds is Gabriel, the character in the TV pilot that Gavin was shooting, with McCarthy playing his wife, Mary, and Davis as a mysterious stranger deciding whether she should help the family, whose car has broken down on a deserted mountain. Certain minute elements repeat in each part, giving clues as to what it's all really about as fantasy and reality intertwine. David Denman (THE OFFICE) and Elle Fanning also appear in each section, while Dahlia Salem (ER) and Ben Falcone (McCarthy's real-life husband) play themselves within fictional worlds. THE NINES is a fascinating exploration of art and character that, of course, runs 99 minutes. [More]

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, Elle Fanning

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis, Melissa McCarthy, Elle Fanning, David Denman, Dahlia Salem

Director: John August

Director: John August
Screenwriter: John August
Producer: Dan Jinks, Bruce Cohen, Dan Etheridge
Composer: Alex Wurman
Studio: Newmarket Films

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Reviews for The Nines

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1 - 20 (sorted by critic A-Z; UK critics are listed first)
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It is beguilingly cuckoo, though as primitive visually as The Twilight Zone – it was shot in 22 days – and about as profound.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
11/30/07
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

It is pretty familiar material in some ways, and not exactly unpretentious, but very watchable.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/30/07
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film puts a delightful spin on that profound and solipsistic idea that we are the godlike inventors, and moral arbitrators, of our own little worlds. A gem.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/30/07
James Christopher
James Christopher
Times [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With an almost Donnie Darko sense of apocalyptic mystery, writer-director August really gets our heads spinning.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment 1 Comment
11/17/07
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

This overreaching, Lynch-lite comic drama is the mediocre directorial debut of screenwriter John August (‘Charlie’s Angels’, ‘Big Fish’) and, if nothing else, demonstrates why some writers should stick to their laptops.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/29/07
David Jenkins
David Jenkins
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Overly gimmicky and ultimately frustrating it may be, but at its best The Nines feels like a triple-bill of 'Twilight Zone' episodes written by Charlie Kaufman - creepy, oddball and clever.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
11/30/07
Billy Mowbray
Billy Mowbray
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Let's avoid such extremes, and note merely that he's made a film that's funny ha-ha as well as funny peculiar; an exercise in navel-gazing that tickles all the senses.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
11/30/07
Charlotte O'Sullivan
Charlotte O'Sullivan
This is London

Weird.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
11/28/07
Steph Pomphrey
Steph Pomphrey
Little White Lies

Definitely worth a look.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
11/30/07
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

There are plenty of surprises in this amusing Donnie Darko-ish metaphysical thriller, but watching Van Wilder and Blade: Trinity star Ryan Reynolds flex some previously hidden acting chops is the main one.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
11/30/07
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

With McCarthy and Davis also playing two further roles with suspiciously identical initials, The Nines toys with issues of identity, duality and alternate reality certain to appeal to anyone who's experimented with the virtual avatars of Second Life.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/29/07
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Absorbing, mind-bending and thoroughly engaging mystery thriller with a superb script and terrific performances from its three leads.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/29/07
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

An intriguing post-modern take on TV, film and gaming culture, with a revelatory performance from the former Van Wilder.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/28/07
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An amusing journey through the nature of reality with a bit of Hinduism thrown in that sadly collapses into new-age nonsense towards the end.

Full Review Source: Daily Mirror [UK] | comment Comment
11/30/07
Daily Mirror [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Isn't funny enough to be classified as a comedy, weird enough to attract cult attention, nor spiritual enough to be mind-blowing.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
08/30/07
Lewis Beale
Lewis Beale
Film Journal International

Sometimes a product's creative integrity requires that it not quite attain a ten - but when it comes to the cinema of big ideas, The Nines is as close to divine perfection as you are likely to get.

Full Review Source: musicOMH.com | comment Comment
11/30/07
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
musicOMH.com

A challenging loop of spiritual indecision within the confines of a city known for quick creations and their inevitable consequences.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/14/07
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

Bright and vicious, desperate and cruel, the characters of the first two stories pop with a kind of nihilistic joie de vivre that makes you want to hug them and kill them at once.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
08/31/07
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

August's screenplay for "The Nines" is fun, confusing, provocative...And if he isn't as edgy or daring as he might be, there's much to be said for a film that's as entertaining and thought-provoking as the best episodes of The Twilight Zone.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
07/10/07
Harry Chotiner
Harry Chotiner
culturevulture.net

August is on solid ground when he's riffing on Stephen King and celebrities, but he's stretching when he tries to be David Lynch, which would require a distinctly different kind of brain damage.

Full Review Source: Paste Magazine | comment Comment
06/08/08
Robert Davis
Robert Davis
Paste Magazine
 
 
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Latest News for The Nines

September 07, 2007: Director's Commentary: Not Just for DVDs Anymore?
If you've ever sat in a darkened theater and thought to yourself "What this movie really needs is a commentary track," CHUD has some excellent news for you. More...

August 22, 2007: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
More...

July 23, 2007: The Nines as a movie is ultimately everything but, to say the least. Opens in new window
More...

January 23, 2007: Sundance: "Hounddog" Is A Dog; "The Nines" Scores High
Read on for some short reviews of films playing at Sundance: "Hounddog," starring Dakota Fanning, is a cliched stab at Southern Gothic with echoes of Faulkner, and... More...

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