Nine Lives (2005)

What a waste of my time!!!

Beautiful, moving film.

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Don't be deceived by the excessive praise afforded to this film, as it actually features little substance. Many of the vignettes are just a scene in length and none are particularly outstanding. The sort of hammy, over-the-top acting seen throughout may be excusable in a feature length film where other content exists to pad it out but instead the viewer is stuck suffering through heavy over-performance after heavy over-performance. The writing varies immensely, with some of the most cliché content seeming a somewhat deliberate attempt to mock everyday, mundane conversation. That's not to say that the film isn't without its charms as, at times, there's an everyday feel to the thing when the actors aren't trying to desperately oversell their performances. However, the most aggravating aspect is the sheer predictability at times. Viewers should be able to easily intuit the coming action; this doesn't result from foreshadowing but rather poor writing. While some things are left unsaid, one can easily draw conclusions. The film features some major stars which, I imagine, is probably the reason it's received a free pass from so many despite being mostly a forgettable humdrum.

This movie contains nine small movies, each done in one take. The situations are very ordinary and although this idea is splendid, the unfolding of most of the stories are boring to watch as there is little or no point to them. There simply is too little progression or development in these short-stories and we never get really involved. Some of the stories are connected but never in a way that adds anything to a meaning. It is only coincidental.Mediocre is the word I find most suitable to describe this movie which means that I can't recommend it. If you like to see movies that deals with everyday life then I would recommend the movies done by Mike Leigh, who is dedicated to description of everyday life, to you (especially "life is sweet").Regards Simon

one who want to see what it's mean "clean acting art" has to see this movie. I am sure that this movie will be one of the best example of how close can the cinema be to the theater (in the good aspect). the movie bring to us nine short stories about women in relation to their daughters, old lovers, fathers, and husbands. the power of this movie coming from the quality of the actresses who play their rules so naturally, so you believe that it is a real their own story. there is no different the age of the actress: all of them present great acting skills, and show us all the personal feeling woman have, until the most intimal senses they feel. I have notice that the common mood this movie show is sadness about the female world. there is no one joke in the film neither a relief thought about the price they have to pay in our world.

Rodrigo Garcia's "Nine Lives" raises the question of just how emotionally invested a viewer can become in a character who appears on screen for no more than ten or a dozen minutes throughout the course of a movie. And what happens if ALL the main characters show up for that little a time? For this is the case with "Nine Lives," a compilation of vignettes about nine virtually unconnected ladies, each of whom is struggling with issues common to women in a modern world. Some are coping with messy relationships, others with regrets about past actions, still others with health issues and the looming possibility of death. Even though the stories abut slightly on one another from time to time, each exists essentially as a stand-alone sketch able to function without the others.The main problem with a movie like "Nine Lives" is that, for all the insights it offers into life and human relationships (and they are many), it simply can't develop its characters to any appreciable extent in the time it has allotted them. Just as we are becoming engaged by a particular woman and her situation, the movie shuts us down by cutting away to the next segment. This is really no criticism of the movie per se - which is a well written, well acted and well directed piece of lyrical film-making - but the structure dilutes our interest and robs the film of the cumulative force it might have had were the individual stories fleshed out to feature length.Still, given the limitations, this is a film filled with flavorful moments and fine performances from a large and gifted cast that includes Sissy Spacek, Mary Kay Place, Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Holly Hunter, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Robin Wright Penn, Joe Mantegna and Aiden Quinn, among many others. And the final moments are so tender, poignant and touching that they carry the film to a level where it transcends artifice and makes a genuine human connection with its audience. Thus, despite the reservations one might have about the film as a whole, the parts are more than compelling enough to make it well worth watching.