DVD Review: The Nines by Mitch Emerson

I love movies that mess with your mind; that keep you guessing what is real and what is not. I am also a big fan of movies that have twists in them that change everything you thought you understood up until that one moment, that one situation or piece of information that usually comes out of nowhere and either brings realization to you and the characters, or turns their world and your perspective upside down. When they are done well, such as Donnie Darko, Memento, A Beautiful Mind and even the first Matrix film, we love them. When they are done badly – Nic Cage's Next is the first that comes to mind - they are such a let down. Bad “mindfuck” films, as I call them, leave you feeling cheated in the end. The Nines doesn't. It leaves you with questions for sure, but can also start some interesting conversation as it did with my wife and I.

The Nines is one of those that plays things a little different. You don't know what is happening pretty much from the get-go. Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy play multiple roles in a film containing three separate, yet connected stories. The first, The Prisoner, is about an actor who is placed under house arrest. The second, Reality Television, follows a creator/showrunner of a television show in the style of it's own reality TV show, and the last, Knowing, is the story of a man trying to get help for him and his family whose car has broken down.

John August brings all of these actors together with a story that goes from cute to creepy, to confusing back to cute again almost effortlessly. There are only a few times that would be considered WTF!? and those moments still keep you interested instead of pulling you out of the movie. There is also an underlying (well not so underlying - it kind of smacks you in the head at one point) spiritual message that can be interpreted many different ways and yet not be preachy. Hell, I'm not even sure if it was meant to be spiritual or sarcastic or just thought provoking.

This is a film that will take multiple viewings to make complete sense of, but is enjoyable enough that I won't mind watching a few times.

9/10

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Mitch Emerson
mitchemerson@hotmail.com