The Ninth Gate
If you've ever wondered what movie going hell would be like, watching the final 30 minutes of the demonic thriller The Ninth Gate might give you the answer. It's a painfully weak film from director Roman Polanski, especially considering that he helmed the classic Chinatown.
In spite of the film's abysmal reviews and tepid box office performance, you may be tempted to rent The Ninth Gate after viewing the film's intriguing trailer. After all, it stars the always-interesting Johnny Depp (Donnie Brasco) and represents a return to the supernatural for Polanski, who also directed the legendary horror film Rosemary's Baby.
Don't believe the hype. Rosemary's Baby is more than 30 years old, and Polanski's last major hit was the standout Harrison Ford thriller Frantic in 1986. This isn't Polanski's comeback effort, although the first half of the The Ninth Gate shows for a while what might have been.
The film stars Depp as an ethically ambiguous rare-book dealer named Dean Corso. Corso is hired by Boris Balkan (Frank Langella) to travel to Europe and track down the two remaining copies of a book called "The Nine Gates of the Kingdom on the Shadows" (Balkan owns the third copy). Rumor has it that the engravings in the book were adapted from the work of Satan, and Balkan wants to compare the engravings in the other copies of the book to his own.
As Corso sets about tracking down the additional copies, the mystery surrounding the book mounts as a growing number of people associated with it die under mysterious circumstances. Balkan's motives for hiring Corso also seem increasingly suspicious, as Corso begins to suspect there is more to the assignment than originally told. There's some interesting material here, and even a little suspense. So what's the problem?
The film starts to unravel with the growing presence of a strange young woman (Emmanuelle Seigner), who in a particularly ridiculous scene saves Depp from the clutches of bad guys with some martial arts that come out of nowhere and seem to have been pulled from a poor-man's Matrix. The identity and motivations of this woman remain uncertain, a plot point that's confusing rather than intriguing.
Depp, so good in Donnie Brasco, seems to strain a little here, as he did in the slightly superior Sleepy Hollow. The rest of the acting is merely passable, with the exception of Barbara Jefford's strong-but-brief performance as an elderly Parisian baroness confined to a wheelchair.
As the special effects mount and the plot grows more and more over-the-top, you'll hope Polanski will somehow find a way to salvage the film. Alas, a ham-handed climax and completely befuddling final scene end the film on a resounding "flop" note. Despite some intriguing ideas, The Ninth Gate is unquestionably a failure. The film's fade to white isn't likely to take the damper off a tedious movieviewing experience.
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The plot is confusing enough without imbibing, although a few brews might make you laugh during the film's nonsensical second half.
The movie does star onetime heartthrob Johnny Depp, but, alas, he's far from his 21 Jump Street pinup days. Film's subject matter and poor execution don't exactly scream "romance." Try again.
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