Star-studded "Nine"

I enjoy musicals and pretty much anything starring Daniel Day-Lewis. So, with these two factors and a star-studded cast, I figured that I would love Nine. Directed by Rob Marshall (Chicago), the film about Italian director Guido Contini's crazy relationships and script-writing troubles was good, but unfortunately not as good as I'd hoped.

The film, set in the 1960s, is based on a play that is based on Federico Fellini's film 8½. I was told to watch this film before I went to Rome last year but never got around to it.

In Nine there are many women in Contini's (Day-Lewis) life. The pressure is on him from almost everyone in Italy to create his latest masterpiece entitled Italia. Unfortunately, he is having director's block.

Contini's women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Penelope Cruz), his mother (Sophia Loren), his muse (Nicole Kidman), his costumer (Judi Dench), an American fashionista (Kate Hudson) and Seraghina (Fergie). All of these women have impacted his life and his work in some way. Contini eventually realizes that the love of his wife is what matters. He wants her back after he has lost her.

The handsome Day-Lewis does a mean Italian accent (as if we'd expect anything less), and he actually sings quite well. In fact, just about all of the film's stars sing. I thought that Fergie's song "Be Italian" was the best for both song and performance. She and Cotillard did the best job in their roles as Contini women.