Is Nine a Bad Musical or Just a Bad Movie?- Page 3

[203bbf]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 11:21am

I saw it last year at some point when it was available on Netflix Instant and thought that, yes, it doesn't really hold together as a movie, but the individual musical sequences worked well on their own. In other words, cut out all the dialogue, and it's a series of really well done and interesting "music videos."

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 12:21pm

@Jeffery I'm with the LES MISERABLES was amazing team too.

NINE to me is an okay musical that turned into a redundantly bad movie with a few good moments in it. But most of the films problems came from the writers if anything else (Anthony Minghella died and Michael Tolkin took over); Rob Marshall and his crew worked with what little they had and the musical numbers are fantastic on their own, it's the film that surrounds them that veers towards bad. I used to like the film when it came out in 2009 but the more times I saw it, the more I felt the awfulness; but strangely enough, it's becoming a guilty pleasure movie that DOES have those good musical numbers and good moments IN the film (thanks to Marion Cotillard). Rob Marshall did what he could and INTO THE WOODS is more or less his redemption to those who hated him and his way to head towards his hidden dream project FOLLIES. The opening of NINE proves that he wants to do FOLLIES right now before he retires.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 1:51pm

Marshall's product just leaves us wondering why he wanted to direct a film adaptation of it at all.

I think Marshall thought this would be his ALL THAT JAZZ. I also wonder how much he genuinely wanted to direct this himself and how much of it was Harvey talking him into it.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 1:56pm

I sincerely hope that it was the latter.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 2:06pm

My biggest issue with the film is Daniel Day Lewis. I love him in his other films but he was totally wrong for Guido. He was way too serious for me to enjoy the movie.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 2:12pm

Robert Downey Jr. or Antonio Banderas would've been better choices.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 2:43pm

I'm curious what it would have been like with Javier Bardem who was originally cast as Guido. He has a twinkle in his eye

[broadwaybabywannabe2]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 3:03pm

in my truly humble opinion...BOTH!!...DREAMGIRLS was a much better musical and it lost to NINE...huh?...and the film of NINE was BORING...but i thought on stage the musical was boring too...

Updated On: 12/4/14 at 03:03 PM

[JoseLee_]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 3:42pm

I agree @broadwaybabywannabE2!! I can't get over the fact Nine beat Dreamgirls' score & best musical in the Tonys... The show is better & the movie is so goood! Nine's score is good but compared to Dreamgirls? Come on now. I love Dreamgirls.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 4:33pm

To me, it's almost too close to call, but I'd have to give Nine the edge. The score, concept and book are all beautifully structured and realized. The original staging, direction and choreography highlights this, though I did see a gorgeous production in Berlin in 1999 that proved how strong the show can be with new staging and in a foreign language. I like the film of Dreamgirls, but I wasn't as wowed by it as I was by the original staging (and I'm still bitter that It's My Party was cut). Dreamgirls was a fantastic show in its original production and highly entertaining. Bennett's vision was stunning to watch, though I did find its use of perspectives reminiscent of Prince's Evita. I have yet to see a subsequent production of Dreamgirls that showcases the material as well. Artistically, I find Nine a cut above Dreamgirls, but for pure entertainment, I'm probably more game to listen to or watch a production of Dreamgirls.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 4:53pm

@Mister Matt I had completely erased the travesty of A Little Night Music (the film) out of my mind, but after I thought about it I guess it isn't that strange. When Wicked is made a movie it will be: a movie based on a musical based on a book based on a movie based on a book, so Hairspray and ALNM and Nine aren't that strange.

@Jeffrey Karasarides My reaction to Les Miz was kind of the influx of my reaction to Nine (although to a far lesser degree). I saw it in the theater three times and cried my face off every time. It then came out on DVD and I tried to watch it a few months ago, and I fell asleep, was completely bored by it. I guess on my little screen all those things people complained about became really obvious and I couldn't even pay attention to it.

The question of Dreamgirls vs Nine is one that I have struggled with. Someone said the lyrics to Dreamgirls are terrible and that it's a big soap opera basically. I think the score to Nine is absolutely stunning, whereas the score to Dreamgirls has a lot of stuff I can just skip right past and I don't feel like I'm missing much.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 5:06pm

@Jeffrey Karasarides My reaction to Les Miz was kind of the influx of my reaction to Nine (although to a far lesser degree). I saw it in the theater three times and cried my face off every time. It then came out on DVD and I tried to watch it a few months ago, and I fell asleep, was completely bored by it. I guess on my little screen all those things people complained about became really obvious and I couldn't even pay attention to it.

This is my main issue with LES MISERABLES as a film. I just don't think it holds up at all. I remember enjoying it enough at the movies, but the more times I watch it, the more uninspired and just kind of bad it and everyone in it seems.

[Musical Master]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 5:07pm

Big screen or small screen I still love it, without it, I don't think musical films would've lasted any longer in popularity.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/4/14 at 5:14pm

I really don't find the lyrics to Dreamgirls terrible. It does have its soapy moments such as Family and I Miss You Old Friend (and the "performance" numbers were written in the convention of popular music, as they should be), but stylistically, it's comparing apples to oranges. Both shows excel in their own styles and their respective styles dictate their composition. There is no textbook of standard of writing and composition for the generic term of "musical theatre", so I don't subscribe to the theory that all music and lyrics should be judged by the same standard.