Saw Nine last night, and didn’t care for it – visually wonderful, but the music was utterly pedestrian and, IMHO, the story not worth telling.
While I was sitting there for two hours not particularly enjoying the film, I had plenty of time to think about other things, like comparing it to All That Jazz (a far superior film on a similar theme), wondering why the original stage show of Nine had been made … and a couple of related questions, like why the film version was made, and what movie should have been made instead.
Now Rob Marshall is a very talented filmmaker. I thought he did a really good job with Chicago, a very tough film to move from stage to screen. He clearly has the ability to get oodles o’ money and to work with first-rate people, including killer casts.
All of this money, though, and all of this talent – utterly wasted on Nine, IMHO.
What movie should he make next (assuming, that is, that the “failure” of Nine doesn’t do too much damage to his ability to raise money and attracts big stars)? Should he do another stage adaptation – Wicked, Spring Awakening? Do one of the movie --> (stage) musical adaptations – Billy Elliott, The Color Purple? One of the “music of” compilations – Jersey Boys, Movin’ Out? Look for an original show?
My vote – I’d love to see a film version of The Boy from Oz, and I think Rob Marshall might be the man to do it.