Review of The Ninth Gate (1999) by Todd P — 27 Oct 2009
In the great Roman Polanski's The Ninth Gate, Johnny Depp plays a somewhat seedy bookdealer who is enlisted by much more seedier professor Frank Langella to seek out two of three remaining copies of a demonic book, purported to be written by Satan himself, to see which of the three is the actual text and which ones are the knock offs.
Depp's investigation leads him to Europe where murder, suspicious people, and some very strange happenings seem to follow him everywhere. As he uncovers the differences in each book, the owner's (as well as the book) meet their demise by an unknown assailant, and as Depp digs deeper and deeper, he finds himself to be more and more obsessed with finding the answer.
The Ninth Gate definitely contains one of Johnny Depp's most unusual of film roles, but you can really tell that it is in fact a Roman Polanski film. Frank Langella turns in another awesome performance, as does fairly sexy Lena Olin.
Don't expect a fast-paced suspense actioner. The Ninth Gate takes its time with slow-paced story structure that builds and builds, leading to a very rousing and entertaining conclusion. Overall, it's an very well-made movie.
This review of The Ninth Gate (1999) was written by Todd P on 27 Oct 2009.
The Ninth Gate has generally received positive reviews.
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