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Movies / On DVD / Nine Lives
Nine Lives

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Nine Lives (2005)

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Reviews Counted: 82

Fresh: 62

Rotten:20

Average Rating: 6.8/10

Consensus: Nine Lives is bolstered by a strong cast and features many insightful glimpses into the lives of women.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, brief sexual content and some disturbing images.

Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Oct 14, 2005 Limited

Box Office: $148,181

Synopsis: Director Rodrigo Garcia has become a master of short film anthologies, with this, his third venture into the genre. His previous work in this field--THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER... Director Rodrigo Garcia has become a master of short film anthologies, with this, his third venture into the genre. His previous work in this field--THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER (which stitched together five separate stories) and TEN TINY LOVE STORIES (comprised of ten tales)--was shot in 2001, and featured predominantly female casts. The vignettes that make up NINE LIVES follow in the same vein, with Garcia taking brief dips into the lives of various women who are all floundering in relationships with important people in their lives. An all-star cast helps Garcia achieve his vision, and a highly skilled team behind the camera ensures that the action is perfectly executed, as each story is shot in just one single take. Garcia doesn't construct conventional narratives for his stories, he just drops viewers into situations, then pulls them out before any conclusions are reached. Some of the women we are exposed to are Robin Wright Penn, who plays a pregnant woman running into a former lover in a supermarket, resulting in a bout of anguish and self doubt; Ruth (Sissy Spacek), a woman caught up in an affair at a seedy motel; and Holly Hunter, playing a woman alarmed at her boyfriend's antisocial behavior. The stories are thrilling in their inconclusiveness, with Garcia leaving plenty of question marks about where these women are heading with their lives. Indeed, the first story in the film ends just as it seems to be starting, with prison inmate Sandra (Elpida Carrillo) letting out a howling, primal scream as she is pulled away from her daughter by prison guards, leaving the audience hanging in midair as the next story immediately begins. A breathtaking work that plays beautifully with the cinematic medium, NINE LIVES is an exhausting and demanding piece of work. [More]

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elpidia Carrillo, Andrew Borba, Kathy Baker

Starring: Dakota Fanning, Elpidia Carrillo, Andrew Borba, Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, K. Callan, Robin Wright Penn, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Amanda Seyfried, Sissy Spacek, Glenn Close, Aidan Quinn, Joe Mantegna, Mary Kay Place

Director: Rodrigo García

Director: Rodrigo García
Screenwriter: Rodrigo García
Composer: Edward Shearmur
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

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Release:

Feb 14, 2006

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Reviews for Nine Lives

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Each woman has to turn herself inside out in continuous time. It has the demands of theatre and the intimacy of cinema.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
06/06/08
Paul Byrnes
Sydney Morning Herald

Loss is the common thread that binds the women in these nine snapshots that involve us in their intricate lives. Some stories work beautifully, while others are dull and hardly capture our interest

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
04/26/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
10/01/07
Ebert & Roeper
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The stories are sketches, often without resolution, and while individual segments succeed admirably, taken together the portraits are a fitful match.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
10/01/07
David Germain
Associated Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In the end, all of the pieces in Nine Lives fit together perfectly. If one story doesn't quite resonate for you, the next one likely will in this small but beautiful film.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
10/01/07
Paul Doro
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Kathy Baker deserves and Oscar nomination for juggling so many different feelings during her slow, reluctant acquiescence to the drugs that may likely save her life.

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
10/01/07
Todd Gilchrist
FilmStew.com

Nine Lives had me tense, engaged, sometimes disgusted, sometimes moved, and always interested. Garcia is an ingenious and eloquent storyteller.

Full Review Source: Christianity Today | comment Comment
09/27/06
Carolyn Arends
Christianity Today

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
05/12/06
Jonathan Kiefer
Sacramento News & Review

A truly amazing film.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
04/27/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

It's as if we're randomly eavesdropping on the private concerns of one particular neighborhood ... a neighborhood that sure has its fair share of heartache.

Full Review Source: DVD Clinic | comment Comment
03/28/06
Scott Weinberg
DVD Clinic

Nine Lives isn't a master work, but it's still a fascinating piece of filmmaking.

Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
03/04/06
James Plath
DVDTown.com

...a remarkably powerful little film.

Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
02/23/06
David Nusair
Reel Film Reviews

You won't find ensemble acting much better or writing more incisive than that in Nine Lives ...

Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
01/27/06
Robert W. Butler
Kansas City Star

Certain characters and their particular pains become so engrossing in their 10-minute bits that it's sad to see them go.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/08/06
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

What saves Nine Lives is a first-rate cast, which includes Oscar-winning actresses Sissy Spacek and Holly Hunter.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/07/06
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It's unclear why Garcia continues to choose to limit himself to these diluted portraits, rather than the layered and textured worlds that his writing and directing hint at.

Full Review Source: Zap2it.com | comment Comment
12/31/05
Dan Fienberg
Zap2it.com

Some parts are stronger than others, but as a fleshed-out artistic vision, Nine Lives works remarkably well.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
12/31/05
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If only every women's movie had Nine Lives' fire, intelligence, and conviction, they wouldn't have such a shaky reputation in the first place.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/31/05
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

... the first third of the film is marred by a tendency to be morbidly serious and overly dramatic.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/31/05
Bob Westal
Film Threat

Highly variable and something of a technical tour-de-force.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
12/31/05
David Noh
Film Journal International
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Latest News for Nine Lives

January 04, 2006: Ebert & Roeper Share Their Favorites from '05
TV's biggest and most (relatively) beloved movie critics, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, have announced their top ten lists for 2005, and you can either listen to the banter on... More...

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