Nine (2009)

When the pressure to create is at its highest, some artists find inspiration, and others find every possible excuse to avoid the blank page. Rob Marshall's "Nine," adapted from the hit Broadway musical, certainly takes the spirit of its showstopping number "Be Italian" to heart. It's drenched in sleek cars, glamorous Italian fashion and cozy Roman streets, all set in the early 1960s, the era of Federico Fellini's classic "8½," which inspired both the stage show and Marshall's frenetic film. As in Fellini's film, the story centers on Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis), a celebrated, glamorous filmmaker who is due to start shooting his lavish new movie in a matter of days. The problem is, he has no idea what it will be about, and he spirals through a week of affairs, cigarettes and vivid fantasies to avoid facing that fact. Marshall's approach to staging this massive case of writer's block is to move the songs to the enormous studio where the sets for Guido's film have been built, presumably so viewers aren't jarred by the old-fashioned convention of characters bursting into song mid-scene. That's fair enough, but did the numbers themselves need to be so heavy-handedly racy? Each of the women in Guido's life gets her turn in the spotlight, usually slinking around in lingerie. Marion Cotillard plays his long-suffering wife, Luisa; Penélope Cruz, his fiery mistress; Nicole Kidman, his elegant leading lady; Kate Hudson, a flirtatious fashion journalist; and Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, the earthy beachside woman who fascinated Guido as a boy. And that's not the end of his carousel of women: Judi Dench plays his loyal costume designer and confidante, and Sophia Loren lends her legendary presence to the role of Guido's mother. The talent is dazzling, even if the result is more style than substance.