Polanski’S ‘Ninth Gate’ Bedeviled

Starring Johnny Depp, Roman Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate” is at least the ninth time in recent memory that a major international filmmaker has sold his creative soul, so to speak, to the devil in hopes of scoring a sure-fire event movie.

But the result this time is an unholy creation. Instead of proving genre-savvy, the cinema master renowned for “Chinatown” and “Tess” is in an esoteric mood. The result is this slow-paced, bibliomanic-themed occult thriller.

Polanski’s awesome skills as a director and spinner of mysteries are evident throughout. But the final section is truly a mess, and this “Ninth” becomes, alas, a silly symphony.

Dean Corso (Depp) is a book detective, an erudite Dashiell Hammett-inspired searcher who travels around the world acquiring rare volumes for wealthy buyers. One of his clients is the Faustian collector Boris Balkan (Frank Langella), owner of an extremely rare 17th-century book — “The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows” — believed to be co-authored by Lucifer.

Only three copies exist. And since Balkan believes that his recently acquired volume is a forgery, he wants to see the others.

The engravings in the book supposedly hold the key to a spell that will conjure up the devil himself. If he didn’t know about it before, Corso is about to discover the extensive underground world devoted to the “Nine Gates” books and all things satanic.

Paid a large amount of money by Balkan to “examine” the other two copies, Corso first visits the slinky Liana Telfer (Lena Olin), the fetching widow of a former owner of the book. She’s also straight out of Hammett. Less easily identifiable is Corso’s guardian babe, the Girl (Emmanuelle Seigner), who shows up at odd times.

Based on the best-selling Spanish novel “El Club Dumas” by Arturo Perez-Reverte, “Ninth” makes less sense than “Eyes Wide Shut,” a film that it starts to resemble the longer it goes on.

Even its attempt at an ironic ending comes up short. There are, however, long stretches where the performances and filmmaking keep one suitably entranced.

This sidebar appeared with the story: MOVIE REVIEW “The Ninth Gate” Location: River Park Square Cinemas Credits: Directed by Roman Polanski, starring Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, Lena Olin, Emmanuelle Seigner, James Russo Running time: 2:31 Rating: PG-13