Review: Nine Lives (***)

NINE LIVES
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes



RATING (0 TO ****): ***



Robin Wright Penn, in a small but breath-taking performance that one hopes
the Academy will remember at Oscar time, plays Diana, a woman who looks like
she's hiding a super-sized basketball under her clingy maternity dress.
While at the grocery story, she sees the man of her dreams, a guy named
Damian (Jason Isaacs). They were once "Damian and Diana," he reminds her,
as if that joint name held the same magic as "Sonny and Cher." Now married,
but not to each other, they still have an inescapable bond. As they giggle
and flirt together like young teenagers, Diana becomes increasingly
uncomfortable. She wants badly to be with Damian and she resents the
uncontrollable pull that his mere presence has for her. With her emotions
heightened by the hormones of pregnancy, she begins to cry profusely. But,
no sooner have we gotten to know this ill-fated couple than they disappear.



NINE LIVES, by writer and director Rodrigo García, whose previous film was
TEN TINY LOVE STORIES, uses the medium of the short film to construct a full
length motion picture. Diana's story is but one of nine such stories of
women and the people around them. All the stories were filmed in one single
take. Some of the stories share some common supporting characters, but the
script doesn't use the structure of SHORT CUTS or CRASH, in which the
stories are all tightly intertwined. In NINE LIVES, the stories almost all
stand alone and could be viewed independently. What they share most of all
is a strong sense of place -- one is set in a jail and another in funeral
parlor -- and an absolute honesty. All of the characters are genuine and
most are touching in various ways.



In another strong story, Richard (Joe Mantegna), the husband of Camille
(Kathy Baker), an angry and anxious woman about to undergo a mastectomy,
have a discussion just as she is about to enter the operating room. "We're
nothing," she argues. "We're dreams and bones." She goes on to complain
about how we are at the mercy of strangers. But having a positive outlook
and not about to be operated on himself, her husband responds to her with
quiet assurance and confidence, "We're not at the mercy of each other.
We're connected."



You'll be connected to the stories, all of them. My only warning is not to
expect a final wrap-up in the ending sequence, since this story featuring
Glenn Close and Dakota Fanning has no link with the previous stories. But,
as a story, it is another fine one.



NINE LIVES runs 1:55. It is rated R for "language, brief sexual content and
some disturbing images" and would be acceptable for teenagers.



The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, October 28, 2005.
In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the Camera Cinemas.



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