NINE

Guy’s view on musicals and this movie...

I have to admit that I can’t understand the musical genre. The fact that people just burst into song about what they are doing and thinking kinda annoys me. Musicals that I’ve enjoyed in the past are “Moulin Rouge” and “Across the Universe”, the fact being that they were different and somewhat hip (yes, hip).

This time Rob Marshall takes a second stab at this genre. He previously released “Chicago”, which I’m not a big fan of at all. However, with this film, I found myself enjoying the singing and choreographed dances. The movie is about a guy (Daniel Day Lewis) trying to make another movie. He’s been on a low and made a couple of flops but everybody is looking forward to this project. The movie is pretty much about the women in his life, his muses. We get to see musical segments with his mother, wife, a whore, seamstress, mistress, a reporter and leading actress as they sing about his life.

The main reason that I liked this movie must have been because of the great Danel Day Lewis who can’t seem to do anything wrong. Sure he seems like a nutty actor but he pulls off some amazing performances. The women, Dench, Cruz, Cotillard, Loren, Kidman and Fergie, all do great performances, but the tip of the hat goes foremost to Cotillard who’s really coming into her own as a Hollywood actress.

Guy’s Rating: To you macho guys out there. It won’t kill you to watch this movie... I promise.

Girl's hope for something better...

Not a big fan of musicals, I still really wanted to like this movie. I had high expectations for something dramatic and fun and beautiful. Although it was fun and very beautiful, it wasn't very dramatic. I will never write a musical, nor will I ever be involved with the production of one, so I would have to assume that the story is hard to keep to when you have to worry about dance choreography and songs the whole time. I also have to assume that's why they kept the story of this so, so simple. A man can't write another movie because he has lost his way - too many women, you could say. Simple.

The problem for me lay in that, yes, there were too many women! All had to have their say, their dance, their contribution. We had seven women do their song and dance and play their part in Daniel Day Lewis' character's life. Somewhere in there, I got lost as to what the point was. I stopped caring about the main character. He was a cheat, a liar, and no genius. All these women loved him or affected him, but sometimes the why didn't seem believable. In the end, he wasn't anything special, but maybe that was the point and I just didn't like it.

Like Guy, the one character I liked was that played by Cotillard. She was Guido's wife, and she was magnificent. Maybe it's her cute accent or her gorgeous eyes, but she plays off the camera so well. Her sexy set at the end was way more appealing than Cruz's earlier song and dance. Cruz seemed like Cruz playing the cute part of an adulteress (not oscar nomination worthy, by the way), but Cotillard's performance was powerful. Again, maybe that was the point, and again, I just liked the powerful stuff, not the fluff.

I think, to watch this movie, you need to be into musicals. You need to watch it just for fun and something to tap your foot to, and not to get any award-winning dramatic performances from. All you'll get is what Coitllard will give you, and she is just one woman out of a cast of nine.

If this film is to win awards for something, it should be for art direction and costume design, because when it came to these two things, it was very glamorous.

Girl's Rating: Didn't live up to the hype, but still a beautifully constructed movie, with a touch of the dramatic and a huge serving of fun.