Film Threat

Sunday January 30, 2005

Nine Lives 

by Bob Westal

"Nine Lives" is composed of nine separate stories, each shot in a single take, each named for the leading female character, each vaguely (sometimes very vaguely) related to the other stories.  Several of the segments end of emotional cliffhangers. 

Written and directed by Rodrigo Garcia (“Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her”), “Nine Lives” is no stunt. The camera work by Javier Perez Grobet never calls attention to itself – in fact, I actually had no clue the movie was composed of unedited takes until I began looking through the press notes. Unfortunately, the first third of the film is marred by a tendency to be morbidly serious and overly dramatic.

The good news is that, story by story, the tone slowly changes to something more humorous, gentle and low key. “Nine Lives” single-take conceit obviously makes this very much an actors’ movie, and the film employs a strong cast of some of the most underused thesps around. It’s a major pleasure to be reacquainted with Mary Kay Place, Joe Mantegna and Sissy Spacek – all of whom should be working a lot more than they are. Other stand-outs include Holly Hunter and Stephen Dillane as a prickly couple having their “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” moment, Miguel Sandoval as a compassionate prison guard with a rocky, probably abusive, past, and young Amanda Seyfrid as a level headed teen with less level-headed parents.

Hollywood Reporter

Monday July 26, 2004

Garcia keeps tracks of indie 'Nine Lives'  (an excerpt)

by Chris Gardner

Helmer Rodrigo Garcia has his hands full with a big-name cast for his latest effort, the indie drama "Nine Lives." The project, produced by Julie Lynn through her Mockingbird Pictures, is shooting in Los Angeles. The story is a series of vignettes, offering glimpses into the lives of nine women, played by Kathy Baker, Amy Brenneman, Elpidia Carrillo, Glenn Close, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Amanda Seyfriend, Sissy Spacek and Robin Wright Penn. Their stories are rounded out thanks to additional cast members including Stephen Dillane, Dakota Fanning, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Ian McShane, Molly Parker, Mary Kay Place, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Miguel Sandoval and Aidan Quinn.