DVD REVIEW

The Nines - Special Edition

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment || R || Jan 29, 2008

Synopsis

Ryan Reynolds and Hope Davis star in this clever, mind-bending thrill ride through the mind of an actor, a writer and a videogame designer who arguably controls them all. Written and directed by John August.


Critique

The Nines is one of those movies that, when you say you don’t like it or aren’t that impressed with it, the automatic response is that you must not “get it.” You didn’t like it because you’re just not up to the material, something like that, as though it would be impossible to get it and find fault with it.

What we have with The Nines, essentially, a film in three overlapping pieces, not unlike Go, a film John August wrote in the late 90’s. That film, like so many überhip 90’s films, felt distinctly Tarantinoesque, inspired specifically by Pulp Fiction, another film made up of three stories. (Hey, three films made up of three stories. There’s another nine.) The connections here go beyond the ironically peripheral, and the film gets into ideas about the fragile nature of reality and existence.

Ryan Reynolds is at the center of each segment, playing a different character each time. In the first one, he is Gary, an actor, the star of “CRIM9 LAB”, a CSI style crime show that we see a piece of; Gary hilariously channels David Caruso. In each segment there are two women (Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy). Their characters change, but their roles in Gary’s life remain consistent. They play off of one another, and it never clear exactly who, if anyone, has his best interests at heart. In the second segment, when he breaks the news to Melissa (playing herself) that she is off the show, is one of the hardest, harshest moments in the film. “Either you go away or the show goes away,” he tells her, and he’s not about to let the show go away.

The film comes full circle in the end. We start out with the actor, trapped by the fictional character he has created, and we end up in the show, with the character and all of his surroundings, literally, a fiction, a reality only in someone’s mind. The creator of all of this is in the middle, unable to get his shows on the air. Since the show never made the air, as he learns at the up fronts, since it was replaced by another show, perhaps the last segment is all in his mind.

But that’s the fun of a movie like The Nines. All the pieces are there for the audience to chew on. There’s nothing especially mind blowing about it, but it’s fun to talk about.


Video

The Nines is presented in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen ratio. There is a wide color range here – the palate changes from segment to segment – and this transfer renders is beautifully. The picture is sharp, black and white levels are solid, and the color levels are well balanced.


Audio

This disc is presented in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The presentation is sharp, with all levels coming through clearly and well balanced. There is a wide aural range in the film, and the soundtrack is well rendered here.


Special Features

Commentary With Director John August and Ryan Reynolds: the two talk about the making of the film, the logistics of it all, creating the look of each segment and more.

Commentary With Director John August, Editor Douglas Crise, and Melissa McCarthy: this is an interesting track. There is some inevitable overlap between this and the first commentary, but on the whole this is a completely different conversation.

Deleted Scenes: nine deleted scenes, presented with optional commentary by John August and Douglas Crise.

Script to Storyboard to Screen Comparison: we have all three on screen at the same time. The storyboard and the scene are side by side, with the script scrolling up behind them.

Summing Up the Nines: a making-of piece. We get on-set footage, the cast and crew talk about the film and more.

Photo Gallery Slideshow: exactly that.

God (Short Film): the short film from which The Nines sprung. This is presented with optional commentary by John August, Douglas Crise and Melissa McCarthy.


Final Thoughts

The Nines is a fun film, if not as deep and mind bending as some might have you believe. The movie is definitely worth a look, just don’t expect too much. The audio-visual material is good, and the bonus material is detailed and interesting

VERDICT: RENT IT

 

Subscribe to DVD Reviews Feed

 

Review posted on Mar 16, 2008 | Share this article | Top of Page

Copyright © 1999-infinity MovieFreak.com