En route to the premiere afterparty in a cab, we were debating: which production number in Nine was best. Kate Hudson in white fringe doing go go (this is the '60's), a boa clad Judi Dench reminiscing about the Follies Bergere, kittenish Penelope Cruz making love to hot pink satin crooning “My Darling, whose afraid to kiss your toes?” Any one would get your vote. Fact is, this movie based on a show, an homage to Fellini's 8 1/2, starring a stunning Daniel Day Lewis as Guido Contini, a world-class filmmaker and liar with a world-class creative block, is so breathtakingly entertaining, to pick is moot.

I went for Marion Cotillard. As the long-suffering wife Luisa, she sings demurely, “My husband rarely comes to bed/ He makes movies instead” and then vamps, “Take it All,” as the movie flits fickle between black & white and color.

Introducing at the Ziegfeld, Harvey Weinstein got laughs from the huge crowd including Tony Bennett, Tommy Tune, Phyllis Newman, Marty Richards, Oliver Stone, Julian Schnabel, Tovah Feldshuh, Tobey Maguire, complaining this film of all was most difficult to make, seeing these actors plus Fergie, Nicole Kidman, and Sophia Loren everyday. He also spoke of the bittersweet, how Anthony Minghella had worked on the screenplay and then died unexpectedly, “so full of life,” and when Weinstein arrived in London for the funeral, he received the manilla envelop with completed script.

This being a Rob Marshall film, many wanted the razzle dazzle of Chicago-Nine is it and more.

Regina Weinreich

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