http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0875034/

I am not a big fan of musicals, but there are some that can be good because they have a perfect mix of story, characters, and songs. This is not one of those films. Daniel Day Lewis plays Guide Contini, a famous director who is admired in Italy. He is having a creative problem, he wants to make a film but he hasn't written a script yet because of his problems with the women in his life. The first problem with this film is Daniel Day Lewis. He is one of the best actors around, but he was just dull in this. I understand that he is supposed to be depressed and going through a lot in the film but he just wasn't very compelling or interesting. His songs were okay, but Day Lewis is not a very good singer. Raul Julia, and Antonio Banderas were much better in the original Nine musical. They had charm and charisma which brought the character to life. Day Lewis is just tiring to watch as he has affairs with various women, and struggles to be creative. The impressive part of the film are the various women in his life. Not all of them are good, Kate Hudson's part is awful and her song is the worst in the film. She is not a very good actress in general actually so I wasn't surprised. Nicole Kidman was also pretty dull as Guido's muse. She is barely in the film and when she appears she is gone pretty soon after. Marion Cotillard however is fantastic. Her character isn't given a lot of background but she really knows how to handle her character with grace. She is both beautiful and tragic in the film as Guido's wife who has been with him for years. She is struggling to supportive of him as he has affairs, her character is by far the best in the film. Her last song near the end of the film was one of the best. That brings me to another problem with the film, the songs.

The best musicals have songs that feel natural, they flow with the story of the film and don't seem like filler. The songs in this film are mostly bland and seem thrown in to fill space. The only other good song is Fergie's song "Be Italian." which shows that Fergie is not as terrible as we all seem to think. Now that I think about it, I was more impressed with Fergie's song than I was with the songs by Day Lewis, Nicole Kidman, and Kate Hudson. I think I'm going to need therapy now, my mind cannot comprehend that. Another wasted actress is Sophia Loren as Guido's mom. She appears a few times, but doesn't really do anything interesting. What a waste of a fantastic actress. I try to find the good in all films though, this film is not all bad. Penelope Cruz is great in her part, and her song is quite sexy. Like Cotillard, she does a lot with a character that could have been dull. Judi Dench is also very good as the costume designer. Her song isn't great, but she makes it better by being as awesome as she usually is. It's interesting how most modern musicals cast good actors who can never sing very well. That isn't always the case, but it seems like having a good voice isn't very important in modern musicals. The overall problem with this film is the lack of anything emotional. Guido is a very bland and uninteresting character for the most part, mostly because Day Lewis doesn't play him very well. He has the voice and accent down, but he can't seem to make him compelling. Everything about this film feels detached emotionally, from the mediocre songs that come out of nowhere most of the time like the director got bored and wanted to fill space. The only interesting part is Marion Cotillard's, which could have been much better if it was developed more. Day Lewis has a few good scenes, like a visit to a Cardinal that was quite well done. I also liked how everyone said how much they love his films except for the flops/ This film was pretty disappointing overall. It isn't bad, but it could have been much better.

Overall I give it a 6 out of 10.