The Nines

Screenwriter John August is just like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates - you never know what you’re going to get. Though he wrote both the innovative cult-hit Go and imagination-fest Big Fish, he was also the scripter behind mindless action romps Charlie’s Angels and Charlie’s Angles: Full Throttle. Deciding to direct as well as write The Nines, curiosity might have been high, but judgements were well and truly reserved.

After viewing, the one thing that will be clear is that The Nines isn’t your average motion picture. While a popular actor (Ryan Reynolds) is under house arrest after burning his house down, a talented writer (also Reynolds) tries to get his pilot on television and a computer programmer (Reynolds again) gets stuck in the forest with his family. Though seemingly unconnected, strange occurrences connected to the number nine start to make each one think that there is something wrong with the world…

Closer to his earlier work but a galaxy far, far away out there, August has crafted a movie that is truly complex, honestly thoughtful and undoubtedly unsettling (with some of the most haunting piano you’ll hear). Mixing in issues of identity, duality and reality with philosophical ponderings on the meaning of life, The Nines is definitely not your standard Friday night film experience. Indeed, some movies have a little existentialism in them, here it’s probably more accurate to say that this existentialism has a little movie in it.

Perhaps the best way to describe The Nines is to say it deserves your fullest attention. Split into three half-hour sections with Reynolds playing a different role each time, it might seem like a supernatural thriller but its actually more like a jigsaw where various pieces slowly begin to fit together with subtle hints and more than a few red herrings. While your average viewer will end up confused at Ryan Reynolds growing a beard in between scenes, even the most seasoned film fan will probably head straight to wikipedia for a post-movie explanation.

Though all the acts contribute something, the second - Reality Television - is the most engrossing. Acting as a spot-on critique of how modern studios treat the creative process (like Entourage but a tad grittier), this segment effectively sums up Hollywood and the problems many talented individuals face. However, while Reynolds spectacle-wearing showrunner and his fictional show might appear to have been modeled on JJ Abrams and Lost (Particularly a scene where he argues about not giving all the answers as the money men are worried about confusing the less-intelligent viewers), it turns out this was an autobiographical element taken from August’s experiences with failed show HQ.

Cast-wise, while both Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis manage to sell three different characters (one in each of the three parts), The Nines belongs to Reynolds. Giving the performance of his semi-short career, the former party-liaison shows he is more than capable of mature material that doesn’t rely on his ability to fizz out pithy one-liners. Saying that, the clip of him playing a David-Caruso-from-CSI-Miami type cop in part one is utter genius.

Overall, The Nines is sure to divide audiences. Is it clever and original? Yes. Will the majority of audiences like it? Probably not. Will most people know exactly what is happening while watching it? Not a chance.