Movie musicals have often struggled at the box office since their heyday in the ’40s and ’50s, and few have found themselves in good favour with the critics. Introduce Nine however, with its all-star cast and visually intoxicating scenes and the media, critics and audiences alike are abuzz. The Socialite went along to see what all the fuss is about…

The screen rebirth of the 1982 Broadway musical, Nine, sees an Italian-accented Daniel Day Lewis cast brilliantly as the crisis-plagued Guido Contini, an Italian film director struggling with creative block and women trouble. It takes us on a journey through the life of Guido, who it appears won’t grow up – and when it comes to women just can’t say no.

Guido has a new movie due to start shooting in less than ten days. While he may have made some great films in the past, he finds himself in a professional and personal tailspin just as his new project, the vague-sounding epic “Italia,” is about to commence shooting. The problem? Not only has Guido yet to write a single word of the script, but he is juggling the increasingly clamorous demands of various women. He sets out to try balance the many women of his life, which include his wife, his mistress, his film star muse, as well as his confidant and costume designer, an American journalist, the woman from his youth and his mother. Will the pressures of Hollywood send the dear troubled Guido over the edge making him a handsome has-been? And how will he deal with the demands of the various leading women in his life and will there finally come a time when he can just say no?

Penelope Cruz is truly captivating and oh-so-sexy as she delivers a sultry performance as Guido’s beloved mistress. Marion Cotillard plays the wronged wife with palpable conviction and Nicole Kidman is cast as the film star muse. In addition, the ever-elegant Sophia Loren plays the ghost of Guido’s mother, with Kate Hudson as a gorgeous American fashion journalist. Fergie of Black Eyed Peas fame stars as a prostitute from his youth and Dame Judi Dench as his costume designer and confidante.            

Nine transports you into a striking world of musical glamour and with breathtaking performances by an impressive cast, proves that making movies may just well be the greatest form of art.

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