John August, who has written such diverse films as GO, BIG FISH, CORPSE BRIDE, and CHARLIE'S ANGELS, makes his directorial debut with THE NINES, a complex, thought-provoking work divided into three sections and featuring the same actors playing different roles, with the number nine always lurking in the background. In "The Prisoner," Ryan Reynolds plays Gary, a TV star who has been placed under house arrest after going crazy because his girlfriend dumped him. He is watched closely by Margaret (Melissa McCarthy, from THE GILMORE GIRLS), a publicist who seems to know more than she is letting on, and by neighbor Sarah (Hope Davis), who is instantly attracted to him. In "Reality Television," Reynolds is a director named Gavin who is shooting a TV pilot starring McCarthy (playing a version of herself), but he's getting mixed signals from studio executive Susan (Davis), all while being filmed for a television reality program. And in "Knowing," Reynolds is Gabriel, the character in the TV pilot that Gavin was shooting, with McCarthy playing his wife, Mary, and Davis as a mysterious stranger deciding whether she should help the family, whose car has broken down on a deserted mountain. Certain minute elements repeat in each part, giving clues as to what it's all really about as fantasy and reality intertwine. David Denman (THE OFFICE) and Elle Fanning also appear in each section, while Dahlia Salem (ER) and Ben Falcone (McCarthy's real-life husband) play themselves within fictional worlds. THE NINES is a fascinating exploration of art and character that, of course, runs 99 minutes.

Theatrical Release: August 31, 2007

Ryan Reynolds: Canadian actor, VAN WILDER
Hope Davis: Actress
Melissa McCarthy: American Actress; SAMANTHA WHO?
Elle Fanning: Actress
David Denman: Actor, THE REPLACEMENTS
Dahlia Salem: American TV Actress (ANOTHER WORLD)

John August: Writer: 'Go'

Dan Jinks: 
Bruce Cohen: 
Dan Etheridge: Co-Producer, COME EARLY MORNING, (2006)

John August: Writer: 'Go'

Alex Wurman: 

"[Reynolds] here proves that he's an incisive actor....John August directs it briskly, as a gossip-era TWILIGHT ZONE of images and reality." -- Grade: B
"[A] philosophical mind teaser with satirical fangs..."
3 stars out of 4 -- "The film features excellent performances....THE NINES is best as an examination of the responsibilities an artist bears to his or her creations."
4 stars out of 5 -- "The result plays like Todd Solondz's take on THE MATRIX, providing much needed provocation and genuine food for thought."
3 stars out of 5 -- "August's puzzle-box plot packs in three tales each starring the increasingly, rightly bankable Ryan Reynolds."
"[With] fine performances from Hope Davis and Melissa McCarthy..."
"A puzzle film in the vein of MULHOLLAND DRIVE....The stories have a vivid, hyperreal quality of them..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "[O]riginal, witty, enigmatic and highly recommended....Ryan Reynolds, in his first proper acting challenge, shines throughout..."