*** This movie had such a split as far as opinion that I felt it only fair to present both sides. The first review you will read is from one of our best young female writers and the second is courtesy of one of our newest male writers. It's up to you to decide which interpretation you agree with. Is it an 'A' or a 'D?' You tell us"¦

Nine Lives

“Every woman is a universe.” That's the absolute truth in Nine Lives. This film features a star-studded cast that is as diverse as it is intertwined. Every woman in this film has her own set of heartaches and inner turmoil. It seems that they are all as alone as they could possibly be. However, quite the contrary is true, fore in the grander sense they are all connected and pulse with the same confusion and contemplative anguish.

A collection of vignettes that are sewn together like a patchwork quilt, this film keeps you looking for the common thread. This movie shows the ugly and private little corners within the lives of nine different women. As the film progresses we see that every character has two faces (at least). One face is shown to the world, and the other in what they feel is private or safe. It's as if we are tagging along with these strangers during their most mundane and unglamorous moments. We see them grocery shopping, arguing, deciding, threatening, and just 'getting by.'

My favorite performance was delivered by Robin Wright Penn. I loved her graceful gradation in emotion. Her character slipped gradually from cheerful and upbeat in reuniting with her long-time ex-boyfriend to an uncontrollable panic. Within all of these characters we are only given the present situation with no back-story, only the present in all its glory. The story slowly reveals itself as life's ironic tapestry.

This film is carried by such celebrity heavyweights as Robin Wright-Penn, Dakota Fanning, Glenn Close, Holly Hunter and Sissy Spacek. They all act out the most life-changing moments and decisions of their existence, which all masquerade as disconnected occurrences.

This film is shot very much in the way that Elephant was made. We are shown several 'separate' lives of very different individuals, and then slowly we're allowed to understand how they all affect and bind into one another. The camera work is very loose and appears to be free of any glamour or gloss that we usually find. The shots in this movie are so candid in their attachment to each woman that it imposes a realistic quality. There doesn't appear to be any rehearsal or preparation, only a coincidental filming of life in progress. That is the genius of this film.

The subject matter for this film made me wonder where it came from. I don't feel that the instances in this movie were imagined, but

rather that they were experienced and then transformed into a cinematic tale of lonely and frightened people.

The script for this movie was well written in that the words flowed comfortably and easily. The conversations and the outbursts were rational in their capture of the spectrum of human emotion. The only criticism I have is that there was no climax or true feeling of closure at any point.

The effect that it had on me was one of a wash of melancholy. I felt that I hadn't truly learned a life-changing lesson, nor had I noticed any sort of resolve. In that sense I left the film feeling much like the characters, unsatisfied… which I suppose may have been the very point.

The thing that is plainly understandable within this film is the theory that 'no man is an island' (or in this case, woman), remains unclear. It is never explained or implied that we as humans are in fact alone or connected, only that we all feel disconnected. And, there in that confusion I believe the film's epiphany lies, and in coordination with this film … it's pretty depressing. It is simply human that we all feel pain and disassociation because loneliness is in fact the human condition.

Movie Grade: A

This film is deep and profound, but if you need a lot of answers and logic in black and white, this movie is not for you. The idea is parallel with that of Elephant, although in no way the same story.

********************Second Interpretation***************************

Nine Lives