Review of The Nines (2007) by Sergio E — 18 Dec 2010

Gary: Hey, do you sell crack?

[drug dealer looks confused].

Gary: No, it's cool. I only play a cop on TV.

Margaret: I'll be coming by twice a day to check up on you. I should be the only person coming by. No pals, no buddies, no heroin dealers.

Gary: I don't do heroin.

Margaret: Yeah, crack is classy. Hmmm. But I'm not buying you porn. There's pay-per-view or cable.

Gary: [sarcastically] Great, because I really wasn't concerned about my career, family, or future. I just wanted to jerk off.

Sierra: You're a crackhead, G. Thing is, this planet and these people are your drug of choice. It wasn't that hard to make a universe. At first, you just checked in every once in a while, see how the Neanderthals were doing, move a couple of continents around. But then you got more into it. You started playing a couple of characters of your own. Slaves, kings, messiah, priest. Soon, you were playing 24/7.

Gabriel: How long have I been...

Sierra: You've been gone for four thousand years. Not that time means the same for us.

Gabriel: You came looking for me.

Sierra: That's what a girl does.

Gabriel: Why now?

Streetwalker: Because you forgot who you were.

Agitated Man: You forgot this wasn't real.

Sierra: We couldn't just storm in on a fiery chariot. It was your universe. We had to play by your rules. We had to show you how limited and corrupt your little world was. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice place, it's cozy. But do you remember where you came from? Do you remember where you came from?

Gabriel: It was warm and white, like...

Agitated Man: You can't describe it with human words.

Streetwalker: You can't think it with human thoughts.

This movie encompasses Psychology, Metaphysical multi-dimensional Theory, personal philosophy, and Theology. As a Seminarian, I loved this movie. It demonstrates an image of God that is believable but challenges most religions view of the omni-present, omni-loving, and omni-powerful God. It begs the question and reminds you of the song title, "What if God was one of us?".

Practically, this movie is three smaller stories all brought together when the secret is revealed. The first segment is a Comedy, the second a reality TV series, and the third a Drama. When the third segment starts you're ready to get serious, and delightfully surprised.

I gained a new respect for Ryan Reynolds as an actor, you fall in love Melissa McCarthy, and in the all is well with God... and all is well with us.

The Nines is original and keeps you guessing until the very end, but the pay off isn't as good as the rest of the film.

This is John August's directorial debut, if you don't know who August is, he's the writer of such films like Big Fish, Corpse Bride and Go. The Nines is another impressive entry to his already good resume. It seems that August was confident enough to tackle this big project. I applaud him ambitions. He didn't fail by any means, but he didn't blow me away either. It is always a love hate relationship when the writer is the director. When it works, you get Pulp Fiction, when it doesn't you get Blade Trinity. When the writer is the director, he knows exactly what he wants, he knows the characters inside out and how to bring everything together. The Nines doesn't seem to fall into either category, it seems to sit on the fence.

Ryan Reynolds proves again that he has more range then people give him credit for. He might have painted himself into a corner with Van Wilder and Waiting, but he seems to be slowly breaking free of it. He showed range at the very end of Smoking Aces and in the recent rom com Definitely Maybe. With The Nines he again proves why he is underestimated and will bring greater things in the future. Reynolds plays the lead in all three shorts. We see him as a crack addicted actor, gay writer and family man video game designer. While he doesn't blow you away with his performance, he does manage to capture you and bring you along for the ride from start to finish.

Hope Davis appears here in a supporting role, again playing three different characters in all three shorts. She manages to get so much across the screen by doing so little. A look here or move there and you know exactly what she is thinking. Melissa McCarthy plays herself in one segment, I think she had the hardest job. She has to be bubbly, scared, mean and informative.

The three segments are all shot differently. The first segment, titled The Prisoner, showcases bright reds and yellows and was shot on 16mm. The second segment, titles reality television is shot on video. The entire segment plays out like a reality TV show as we follow Gavin (reynolds) and his troubles in trying to get his pilot on air. The third and final segment, titled Knowing, is darker and shot on 35mm. The third segment has the same title as the pilot that Gavin in the second segment is writing. Even the same events take place. Without giving too much away, all three segment interconnect with each other. But not exactly in a way you want or think.

If you are confused after watching the film, join the club. I knew what happened and sort of got some things, but had to read up on it to see what others thought to finally connect the dots. The films does a very good job of teasing the viewer with bits of information and bringing them along asking questions left right and centre. As the film concludes you sit there wondering if you are satisfied or not. I still do not know really. I like the idea behind the film and the presentation was nice, but the way they dragged us along seemed like it would amount to something bigger, something deeper, something more then what we are ultimately given.

The film doesn't answer everything and it doesn't need to. It's a film that leaves it's answers up to the viewer, to make whatever assumptions they want. But even this isn't satisfying enough.

"Part One - The Prisoner" tells of a troubled actor, Gary, who is wearing the green lace on his wrist. Gary is under house arrest living in another person's house because he burned down his own, the owner of the house is described as a TV writer away on work. While living in the house he is befriended by both a P.R. 'handler', Margaret, and the single mom next door, Sarah, who may or may not be interested in him romantically. Over the course of his house arrest, Gary becomes convinced that he is being haunted by the number nine, including finding a note saying "Look for the nines" in his handwriting. He also sees different versions of himself around the house, which freak him out causing him to break out of his house arrest barrier, which in turn causes a blip in reality.

"Part Two - Reality Television" tells of a television writer, Gavin, trying to get his pilot made. He leaves his house to go away and work on his TV show, "Knowing", about a mother and daughter who are lost, which stars his friend Melissa as the lead actress. In a conversation about reviews and critics Melissa tells Gavin to look for the nines which he then writes on a piece of paper, the same piece which Gary found in Part One, he also tells Melissa he thinks he is haunted by himself. During the process of post production, a television executive, Susan, pushes for Gavin to ditch his friend Melissa as the unconventional lead actress of his project, in favor of a more attractive, well-known accress. This causes an argument between him and Melissa, which leads to his telling the reality TV cameraman to leave him alone. A pedestrian then asks him who he is talking to, and it is shown that the reality television cameraman does not exist, and also that he has the number nine floating above his head.

A flashback from Part One shows Gary's P.R. handler, Margaret, telling him he is a God-like being and that God is a 10, humans are a 7 and that he is a 9, therefore he can destroy the world with a single thought, and that he exists in many different forms and that none of them are real. Gary does not believe this and flips out, which is revealed to be the real reason for his breaking his house arrest barrier in Part One.

"Part Three - Knowing" tells of an acclaimed video game designer, Gabriel, whose car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. Gabriel leaves his wife, Mary, and young daughter, Noelle, to try to get a better signal on his phone. He meets a woman, Sierra, who leads him off into the woods to her car, so she can give him a lift to the gas station. Suddenly Gabriel feels weak and Sierra tell him she has poisoned him with the water she gave him. Meanwhile back at the car Noelle watches a video on a digital camera showing Gavin talking to Melissa from Part Two and Margaret talking to Gary in Part One. She is confused and shows her mom, who appears confused as well. Sierra then tells Gabriel about the three parallel universes he has created, and has been living in, and that he forgot who he was, and that he forgot it wasn't real. Sierra tells Gabriel to go back with her. Back at the car Noelle has gone missing. Gabriel then returns to the car with Noelle in his arms and the family goes home. Mary, who realises that he is not who he seems, tells Gabriel he needs to go and that the world is not real. Gabriel tells her that there were ninety different variations of the universe and this is the last one. Gabriel then realises he must go and removes the green lace from his wrist, at which point the universe peels away into nothing. The film ends with the woman from all three parts married to Ben, whom she is married to in Part Two, and Noelle as their daughter. Noelle tells her mother that "he's not coming back" and that "all the pieces have been put together" and that "this is the best of all possible words", Melissa then looks up and says "thank you", smiles and the credits roll.

Gary, an actor who plays a cop on television, uses too much lighter fluid when he burns his ex-girlfriend's things, then he drinks and drives, uses crack, and crashes his car. He sobers up in jail and is placed under house arrest and the watchful eye of a publicist, the cheery and tough-minded Margaret. She moves him into the empty house of a writer who's away in Canada on a shoot. Gary meets Sarah, an attractive and seemingly-willing neighbor. His friendship with Margaret blooms and strange things happen: he finds notes he doesn't remember writing, he hears noises, and he seems to bump into himself in the kitchen. Two remaining chapters reveal what's going on.

A troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways.