Nine’ is more, not better

OK, the new year begins … and the first thing I see is bad Bob Fosse .

Rob Marshall did a decent job with “Chicago.” He pulled a decent performance out of Richard Gere, won Catherine Zeta-Jones a Best Supporting Oscar and, overall, made Renee Zellweger less hateful than usual.

But now we have “Nine,” a movie adaptation of a Broadway musical that is an adaptation of … a movie. A great movie, in fact. “8 1/2,” which was released in 1963, is the first film that Fellini made after his stunning success, “La Dolce Vita.” It’s all about a filmmaker, still in the shadow of great success, trying - and mostly failing - to find a follow-up project.

“Nine” is basically the same story. Only like all musicals, it has the same irritating quality of actors breaking out into song. In “Chicago,” those songs were singable, memorable tunes, sung by the likes of Queen Latifah. In “Nine,” those songs are about as memorable as an Eastern European national anthem.

I like Daniel Day Lewis. I like what Marshall gets from his female cast, especially Penelope Cruz as a simplistic silly woman in love with Day Lewis’ protagonist director. And because I adore Italian film, I love any and all references to Fellini and “8 1/2.” So I love the basis for “Nine.”

What I don’t like is the derivative nature of what Marshall has put on the screen, especially the dance sequences. I don’t like the obvious sexuality, which comes across merely as obvious and crass. And I don’t like the music.

I went to see “Nine” hoping to see something like “Chicago.” Instead, I saw warmed-over Fosse. If I want that, I’ll just go and rent a copy of “All That Jazz.”

Below : The trailer for “Nine.”