There’s a very fine between profound and superficial, what is genuinely revelatory and what is obvious. It’s a line that writer / director Edson Oda straddles in his sweeping drama about the meaning of life (yep, I know), Nine Days. Unfortunately to these eyes he ultimately falls on obvious and unearned, while asking the audience to believe it’s profound.
Oda pulls us into a world wholly conceived by him. A man named Will (Winston Duke) who used to be alive now watches VHS tapes of people going on about their lives. When someone dies he gets nine days to interview unliving souls for the vacant position of a new life on earth...
As the film unfolds he gets to ask questions about specific situations to see how the applicants will behave on earth, what their sensibilities would be. Among the applicants are characters played by Tony Hale, David Rysdahl and Perry Smith, though almost instantly the script zeroes in on the two that are at the extreme. An optimist who sees potential in every situation (Zazie Beetz) and a pessimist who sees life as cruel and unforgiving (Bill Skarsgård).
Will himself had a hard time when he was alive. He was bullied and never realized his potential. It’s obvious on who’s side of the two top candidates he’ll lean and of course which one of them is bound to teach him a lesson about finding peace and beauty in the little things. I kid you not, this is the plot of the movie. I could not believe how straightforward and cookie cutter Hallmark card like the themes Oda is dealing with are.
Good intentions do not always lead to good art. It’s clear that Oda wants to say something about how life is worth living as several characters question its validitly and contemplate suicide. Yet he only finds skin deep truths and proclamations. He’s more successful in effectively building a world for his story to exist in, without too much exposition. Visually the retro production design and costumes add striking power to some scenes, especially when Will re-creates some affecting moments from the lives he’s been watching. He uses carpenting and visual illusions to take us to a sandy beach or a joyful party while never leaving his backyard. There’s demonstrable ingenuity in crafting those scenes, yet everything else around them is ponderous and clumsy.
The actors give their all to this material with Duke emerging as the most successful. Despite some of the clunky dialogue he’s given to deliver, he credibly shows us how a man hurt by his circumstances can behave while retaining a shred of hope. Beatz and Skarsgård’s characters are so predictable from the get go that I don’t think there’s anything they could’ve done to lend them any integrity.
Nine Days commits the ultimate artistic sin; thinking it’s so profound and moving when it’s anything but. Dealing in big life themes and with a primarily positive message, it will work for some but others will be dismissive.
Writer/Director Edson Oda (front) and cast at Sundance