Following an emotional trauma Gary, a famous actor, goes on a bender and wrecks his car. Now under house arrest he is tended to by his agent's chipper minder, who tries to keep him on the straight and narrow, but temptation is only a garden wall away in the form of Sarah, also a prisoner in her home but in her case it is following childbirth. In the same house, but possibly not in the same time or space, Gavin owns the very same house. Gavin is a successful television writer just about to make a breakthrough with his new show ‘Knowing’. A reality show follows him through the tribulations of getting the show made, including having to dump his long time friend Melissa as the star of the show, all under the watchful eye of one of the studios Drama Development vice presidents Susan. Gabriel and his family have had the misfortune to break down following a walking trip. With little choice Gary sets off to find a tow truck leaving his wife Mary and their mute daughter with the car. Although the area is deserted he runs into Sierra at which point his whole world starts to unravel...

The Nines (2007 1 hr 35 min 24 sec) was written and directed by John August. Although this was the first time he had taken up the director's reins he had previously provided the screenplay for Titan A.E. (2000), both Charlie’s Angels films, Big Fish (2003), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) and Corpse Bride (2005).

If the synopsis sounded a little confusing it’s because the film is actually split into three intersecting segments. The film is brilliant, thought provoking, funny, sad and a whole lot more (I can feel a ten coming on). On the one hand it is difficult to review the film without giving away too much of the plot, but then again the story is open ended, which means that my interpretation of what was going on may be completely wrong. Watch the film and make your own solution.

My personal theory is that Gary/Gavin/Gabriel is an angel with the power to create whole universes, he’s not God as Margaret/Melissa/Mary tells him that God is a ten and he is only a nine. Sarah/Susan/Sierra is likewise an angel who is trying to rescue him from the amnesia which he is suffering from, having spent four thousand years immersed in his own creation. G/G/G has created and destroyed at least ninety of theses universes, in the four thousand years that he has been trying them out.

The nice thing about the film is that my hypothesis could be a whole load of piffle. A case could also be made that the film is about a gamer immersed in his own world, possibly an alien or even that he is in fact God and M/M/M represents that part of man which is aware of God, whilst S/S/S is the devil trying to get God to return to bring back balance to creation. This is an intelligent film which allows the audience to make their own mind up.

There are some spell binding performances from the three lead characters. Ryan Reynolds (Gary/Gavin/Gabriel), who has mostly made a name for himself on television, puts in a sterling performance which just shows how underused he is as a screen actor. Perhaps the forthcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine will change this. This is also true of the performances of Melissa McCarthy (Margaret/Melissa/Mary) and Hope Davis (Sarah/Susan/Sierra). This triumvirate together had me fixated to the screen.

The film is presented with a plethora of extras. You get an interview with John August (14 min 52 sec) about the genesis of The Nines, an interview with Melissa McCarthy (5 min 16 sec) about her enthusiasm for the project. You get the theatrical trailer and John August’s short film God (11 min 26 sec) which can be seen as a precursor to The Nines.The film can be played either with or without commentary. There are nine deleted scenes including the original ending, also with commentary from August and editor Douglas Crise. You also get a small documentary Summing up the Nines (14 min 21 sec), which looks at the film including behind the scenes footage. Script to Screen (5 min 22 sec) is a segment which juxtaposes script, story boards and actual footage. Lastly you get a slideshow photo gallery (3 min 9 sec). If that wasn’t enough to exhaust everything Nines there is also a full length commentary with August and Reynolds. The film has a very clean print and audio options of either stereo or 5.1.

Although the film is great the disc isn’t. Optimum have made the rather irritating decision to place three trailers at the beginning of the disc which you have to watch before you get to the main menu, with no chance of skipping or fast forwarding. There is nothing more mind numbing than this and to be honest after having to watch them a couple of times the only effect this had on me was a desire to avoid these films. 

If you like intelligent film making, and especially if you loved his quirky scripts for Tim Burton, you’re going to love this film. Of course, if you like your plots all neatly wrapped and explained you might have a bit of a "what the hell?" moment when it finishes. For myself I loved it.

10

Charles Packer