Rob Marshall's 'Nine' Movie Trailer: Review

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

Rob Marshall, director of Best Picture winner "Chicago," has yet another musical on the way. "Nine" is an adaptation of the Tony-award winning musical of the same name, which in turn is based on a play by Mario Fratti which was inspired by Italian director Federico Fellini's masterpiece "8 1/2." The film stars, among many others, Academy Award-winners Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard and Judi Dench. It follows the midlife crisis of director Guido Contini (Day-Lewis).

The first trailer had little to be impressed about, but it also showed very little altogether, providing just a glimpse at what sort of film we'd be seeing. The second trailer has now finally been released, and it's a pretty big disappointment. Yet again, we don't get any idea of what Day-Lewis will be like in the film, his very first musical. Are they saving his musical abilities for theatrical release so that they can surprise us? That seems a rather risky idea for a film that, like Marshall's previous musical, is definitely aiming for Oscar buzz.

Also, the apparent over-stylization of the musical numbers really worries me. My problem with some film musicals is that they don't take advantage of the medium, instead relying on performances staged like they might be on Broadway. This was a dilemma I had with "Chicago" as well, and was something a few of my favorite musicals like "Moulin Rouge" and "Sweeney Todd" didn't have a problem with. The song featured within the trailer didn't impress me either, though I'll give the film the benefit of the doubt as it's just one of many different songs sure to be in it.

It seems any true judgment of the film will just have to wait for its actual release, as the trailers haven't done much good at all. I'd say it'll be worth seeing just to find out how Day-Lewis performs in something totally out of his norm.

Check out the trailer for "Nine" below. Thoughts?