Leonard Maltin's 151 Best Movies You've Never Seen - Maltin, Leonard [70]
We don’t necessarily come away from this film with a greater understanding of Pablo Picasso or the intangible thought process that produces great works of art. On the other hand, we do see how an artist can change his mind in the middle of a painting, and come to realize that the piece as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts, as unrelated brush strokes eventually coalesce into a finished work.
The Mystery of Picasso was awarded a Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1956. More than half a century later, it remains a mesmerizing film.
96. NINE LIVES
(2005)
Directed by Rodrigo García
Screenplay by Rodrigo García
Actors:
GLENN CLOSE
ROBIN WRIGHT PENN
HOLLY HUNTER
SISSY SPACEK
KATHY BAKER
AMY BRENNEMAN
ELPIDIA CARRILLOD
AKOTA FANNING
LISA GAY HAMILTON
MOLLY PARKER
MARY KAY PLACE
AMANDA SEYFRIED
STEPHEN DILLANE
WILLIAM FICHTNER
JASON ISAACS
JOE MANTEGNA
IAN MCSHANE
SYDNEY TAMAIIA POITIER
AIDAN QUINN
MIGUEL SANDOVAL
LAWRENCE PRESSMAN
Filmmaker Rodrigo García is fascinated by women, as anyone can tell who has seen Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her, Ten Tiny Love Stories, and Nine Lives. Perhaps it’s because multiepisode films are considered a tough sell that these cinematic collections of short stories aren’t better known; it can’t be for lack of star power.
Nine Lives is especially satisfying not only because the writing is so good and the casting so strong but because García developed a particular style of shooting (with his cinematographer, Xavier Perez Grobet) to tell each story in one continuous take! These extended shots run anywhere from ten to fourteen minutes, yet they never seem like just a gimmick; García makes the storytelling technique seem organic.
The stories themselves all deal with women at a crossroads in their lives. A married woman (Sissy Spacek) is about to have an adulterous affair in a motel room. A teenage girl (Amanda Seyfried) wants to leave home to go to college but feels anchored by her parents’ dependency on her. A woman (Kathy Baker) tries to prepare herself emotionally for a breast-cancer operation. A mother (Glenn Close) bonds with her daughter (Dakota Fanning) as they visit a cemetery. A divorcée (Amy Brenneman) is unexpectedly drawn to her ex-husband as his second wife is about to be buried.
Robin Wright Penn plays a woman who reconnects with an old boyfriend while wheeling a shopping cart around a supermarket. Elpidia Carrillo plays a convict in prison who is on edge as she awaits a visit from her daughter. Holly Hunter has an embarrassing fight with her boyfriend while they’re visiting friends. Lisa Gay Hamilton plays a woman scarred by sexual abuse who seeks a kind of sanctuary in the backyard where she grew up.
Some of these stories dovetail but there is no attempt to tie them all together. García’s writing is too graceful to succumb to such a contrivance; he is focused on his characters and the tiny details that create drama in an everyday world.
He also has a great gift for casting, and obviously some of the best actresses in the business want to work with him. They all give uncommonly fine performances and bring out the best in their male costars (Ian McShane, Jason Isaacs, Aidan Quinn, Joe Mantegna, William Fichtner, Stephen Dillane).
With a cast like that and the quality of writing on display, Nine Lives should already be well known to movie lovers. Perhaps García’s success as the creator, executive producer, frequent writer, and director of the acclaimed cable TV series In Treatment will pique some people’s interest in seeing this excellent film.
97. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH
(2008)
Directed by Rod Lurie
Screenplay by Rod Lurie
Actors:
KATE BECKINSALE
MATT DILLON
VERA FARMIGA
EDIE