First 9 Minutes of "The Nines"

Ifilm has released the first 9 minutes of the John August film "The Nines", starring Ryan Reynolds, Hope Davis and Elle Fanning, which made it's debut at Sundance last year. I had watched the trailer recently for the movie and was intrigued and confused. It's very hard to tell what the movie is about and the official synopsis doesn't help much either. Read that below:


The Nines consists of three short films, each featuring the same actors in different — and sometimes overlapping — roles.

“The Prisoner” tells the story of a troubled television star (Ryan Reynolds) who finds himself under house arrest, with his chipper publicist (Melissa McCarthy) and disillusioned next-door neighbor (Hope Davis) providing his only links to the outside world. Mysterious events lead him to question whether one or both women are deceiving him about the nature of his incarceration.

“Reality Television” is a half-hour episode of “Behind the Screen,” a Project Greenlight-style documentary series tracking the process of creating a network television drama. Having shot the pilot, creator/ showrunner Gavin Taylor (also Ryan Reynolds) faces post-production with the help of his best friend (and lead actress) Melissa McCarthy and development VP Susan Howard (Hope Davis).

“Knowing” finds an acclaimed videogame designer (also Ryan Reynolds) and his wife (Melissa McCarthy) facing car trouble deep in the woods. Their daughter (Elle Fanning) uncovers information which leads to a difficult and irrevocable choice.

Together, the three stories form a single narrative that explores the relationships between author and character, actor and role, creator and creation. Alternately funny and unsettling, The Nines is like a riddle where the answer is the question: “How does it all add up?”


Well, I watched the clip and I still don't know. Hopefully after watching the whole movie, out August 31st, maybe I'll have an idea. If not, then I give up.