The Nines (2007)

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Screenwriter John August (Titan AE, Big Fish) makes his directorial debut in this headtrippy movie about an actor, a TV showrunner, and a video game designer whose lives interconnect in a mysterious way. Ryan Reynolds plays all three characters in three different ‘chapters’ of the film. Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis also appear as three different characters, with McCarthy always playing a comforting friend and Davis being an antagonistic force. To be honest, I don’t fully grasp what August was going for with The Nines. It has to do with writing, creating worlds, destroying them, and being a god. I’d probably dismiss this movie as a screenwriter’s masturbatory exercise if not for the compelling performances by Reynolds and McCarthy. These are the kind of roles that stretch actors’ abilities and allow them to show sides of themselves we’ve never seen before. Both of these talents are known for their work in comedy, but after The Nines, you’ll believe they can do pretty much anything. With Elle Fanning and Octavia Spencer.