The Nines review

The Nines is a psychological drama starring Ryan Reynolds(Van Wilder, Blade Trinity, Waiting) and Hope Davis(About Schmidt, American Splendor, The Weatherman). The film follows in the footsteps of Mulholland Dr., Donnie Darko, and eXistenZ as a twisty, mind-bending character drama with a special metaphysical twist.

The film has three parts divided into three stories- part one revolves around a substance-abusing actor, part two around a struggling television writer, and part three around a videogame designer. The great thing is that all of the parts have the same four central actors plating different, but occasionally overlapping, roles. All three of the stories are somehow connected with the number nine, and the central characters start to feel an eerie consequence on the horizon.

Now, doesn't that just sound AWESOME? Well, I'm a sucker for metaphysical, psychological, philosophical, or otherwise mind-testing movies. That's just me and my tastes. When I found out this movie existed, and that it had been a 2007 Sundance Festival selection, I wet my pants. This is like a fan's dream come true!

To be honest, I really liked it. I really did. It's quite subtle, but it isn't SO subtle that you can't wrap your mind around it. It's very clever in how it unravels it's mysteries. The movie almost references intself a couple times, it's that clever! All of the stories are set in real life(as opposed to cliche-land, where most movies take place). I didn't have to suspend my disbelief until the weird stuff starts happening, and that isn't a negative.

The film delves into some serious philosophical theories. I'm not going to go into specifics because I don't have the time nor the energy, but I can say if you pay attention and have a trained eye and mind, that you'll thoroughly enjoy it as I did.

The acting is usually above-average to good, but nothing special. Althoguh in a couple scenes, when Reynolds is playing a gay character, he goes horribly overboard with that stereotypical "gay" accent. But most of the time, he hunkers down and gives a believable performance. I mean, looking at his track record, you'd think he'd be making more Rob Schnieder picks, but he really didn't screw this up like I thought he would.

Some negatives, however:

This movie has a couple of lines that were terrible. One line involving rabbits is completely stupid and ridiculous. The script could have been tightened up. Overall ,the film could have had a little more depth and developement.

Also, the film isn't tense enough. The first story starts off great and has an awesome tense feel to it, but the other stories don't quite flesh it out as well as it should have. Pretty much, if the filmmakers had just taken a little more time, they could have tweaked it to perfection. Still, if you like Lynchian or metaphysical movies, check it out. It's a very promising start for director John August.

82/100