NINE MONTHS
A film review by Alex Fung
Copyright 1995 Alex Fung
Starring Hugh Grant [Samuel Faulkner], Julianne Moore [Rebecca Taylor], Tom Arnold [Marty Dwyer], Joan Cusack [Gail Dwyer], Jeff Goldblum [Sean], Robin Williams [Dr. Kosevich] Screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on the film NEUF MOIS by Patrick Braoude Produced by Mark Radcliffe, Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Anne Francois Directed by Chris Columbus Music by Hans Zimmer Rated PG [Parental Guidence suggested] in Ontario for profanity, comedic violence and mature themes
Me: **1/2 (out of four stars)
From the first ten minutes of the film NINE MONTHS, it becomes fairly obvious what is the theme, and the storyline of the film is a foregone conclusion. Now, that's not necessarily a bad thing; surprise has not usually been an essential element of recent romantic comedies, and a clever, witty script can salvage even the most formulaic plotlines. Unfortunately, such a script was not to be found for this film.
The central character of NINE MONTHS is Samuel Faulkner, as played by Hugh Grant. At the outset of the film, Samuel is celebrating a five-year relationship with girlfriend Rebecca Taylor (Julianne Moore) with a beach picnic. With the blatant revelation that Samuel seems oblivious to Rebecca's longful stares at little children frolicking on the beachside or her inferences to marriage, the audience can sit back comfortably and foresee the character arc driving the film.
Of course, Rebecca turns out to be pregnant, a concept which horrifies Samuel to no end--this is reinforced by the contrived introduction of the Dwyer couple, Marty and Gail (Tom Arnold and Joan Cusack), whose three young daughters perpetually terrorize Samuel, and by the advice of his best friend, Sean (Jeff Goldblum), a struggling artist who conveniently happens to be Gail's brother. Samuel's fears are not alleviated when they end up with a first-time obstetrician (on humans, anyway), Dr. Kosevich (Robin Williams), a Russian recently emigrated to San Francisco.
With such a cliched setup, the plotline and resolution of the film becomes fairly obvious, and NINE MONTHS desperately requires something to set it apart from other romantic comedies. Unfortunately, it lacks the sharp, tight script which could have made it more than just a conventional Hollywood romantic comedy. The dialogue is not particularly clever, and the comedy is erratic. There is a fair amount of physical comedy, some of which borders upon sitcom quality, and the film tends to weave between an attempt to honestly portray its characters, and ridiculous caricatures not at all congruous in the film.
However, this is not to say that NINE MONTHS does not have its merits. The film certainly has the warm fuzzy feeling which permeates from all of director Chris Columbus' biggest commercial hits (HOME ALONE, MRS. DOUBTFIRE), and this is sure to appeal to a mass market audience. Columbus is effective in manipulating the audience during the obligatory moving scenes throughout NINE MONTHS, and the pacing of the movie is very well done.
NINE MONTHS has a strong cast, none of which are utilized to their fullest potential. Hugh Grant, in his first American film lead role, shows only flashes of the screen presence which made him a star in 1994's FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL, and which have carried him through such varied roles over the years as in IMPROMPTU, SIRENS, THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, and THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN. He is still able to carry the film, but this is not his best work. Julianne Moore is an excellent actress, and her role in NINE MONTHS is certainly her highest-profile one to date; she's had supporting roles in such blockbusters as THE FUGITIVE and THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE, but this one may increase her public awareness. Moore is primarily a dramatic actress (with some of her outstanding work including performances in SHORT CUTS, VANYA ON 42ND STREET, and SAFE) and in NINE MONTHS she makes an understated but successful jump into comedy. Joan Cusack is a fabulous actress, and is wasted in this film; she has no more than a handful of significant scenes in NINE MONTHS. Tom Arnold surprised many with his work in TRUE LIES as the sidekick, and his role in this movie is similar in many ways - he portrays an annoying but likably overbearing character. However, Arnold is not nearly as successful in this attempt; he fails to make the Marty character any more than superficially likable (though the annoying part of the character is all-too effective). Jeff Goldblum is good in a small role, and Robin Williams is charismatic (if over the top) as the inept but eager Russian doctor. (And if anyone can go over the top and still remain effective, it's Robin Williams.)
NINE MONTHS succeeds at becoming a light Hollywood romantic-comedy, and fails to become anything beyond or better than that. It does generate superficial charm, but fails to exploit the abilities of its cast. On my four-star scale, I give NINE MONTHS two-and-a-half stars.
-- Alex Fung (aw220@freenet.carleton.ca)
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews