Nine Lives (2016 film)

Nine Lives
Directed by	Barry Sonnenfeld
Produced by	Lisa Ellzey
Written by	Gwyn Lurie Matt R. Allen Caleb Wilson Daniel Antoniazzi Ben Shiffrin
Starring	Kevin Spacey Jennifer Garner Robbie Amell Cheryl Hines Mark Consuelos Malina Weissman Christopher Walken
Music by	Evgueni Galperine Sacha Galperine
Cinematography	Karl Walter Lindenlaub
Edited by	Don Zimmerman David Zimmerman
Production company	Fundamental Films
Distributed by	EuropaCorp
Release dates	31 July 2016 (2016-07-31) (Los Angeles) 3 August 2016 (2016-08-03) (France) 5 August 2016 (2016-08-05) (United States)
Running time	87 minutes[1]
Country	France China
Language	English
Budget	$30 million[2]
Box office	$44.3 million[3]

Nine Lives is a 2016 English-language French comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, written by Gwyn Lurie, Matt R. Allen, Caleb Wilson, Dan Antoniazzi and Ben Shiffrin and stars Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Garner, Robbie Amell, Cheryl Hines, Malina Weissman and Christopher Walken.

The plot follows a workaholic father who has his mind trapped inside of his daughter's new cat. The film was released by EuropaCorp on 5 August 2016. It was panned by critics and grossed $44 million.

Plot

Tom Brand (Kevin Spacey) is a major business tycoon in New York City whose workaholic attitude ruined his first marriage and caused a rift between him and his adult son David (Robbie Amell) who now works for him and strives for his approval. He now lives with his second wife Lara (Jennifer Garner), who is a little more tolerant of the fact that he is never at home, and his daughter Rebecca (Malina Weissman). His eponymous company FireBrand is nearing completion on its greatest achievement to date: the tallest skyscraper in the northern hemisphere that will be the new headquarters.

His daughter's 11th birthday is coming and she has always wanted a cat, but Tom has always refused as he hates cats. Not wanting to disappoint her in a rush to get a last-minute present for his daughter's birthday, the GPS directs him to a mysterious pet store called Purr-kins brimming with odd and exotic cats. The store's eccentric owner Felix Perkins (Christopher Walken) tells him he doesn't pick the cat, the cat picks him. The tomcat that picked him is called Mr. Fuzzypants. Tom is on his way home for the party when he decides to see Ian Cox (Mark Consuelos), one of the top managers of the company in charge of the new building, as he learns that another building in Chicago will be taller. They have an argument while on the roof that ends with Brand firing Cox, but there's a storm and Brand is blown off the building along with the cat. He is going to fall to the ground but plummets off the side of the skyscraper, his leg gets snagged on some stray equipment and gets flung back inside through a window as he passes out. When he wakes up, he realizes that while his human body is in the hospital in a state of coma, his consciousness is trapped inside the cat's body.

Felix goes to visit him. Apparently he is able to talk to him and knows what happened. He is told by Felix that he must reevaluate his priorities, connect with his family, and avoid past mistakes within one week or else be stuck as a cat forever. Lara and Rebecca take him home. Mr. Fuzzypants acts in an odd and stubborn way to try to convince his wife and daughter that he’s actually Tom. This only drives them mad and he slowly comes to see how much he has ignored his family. He also learns that Ian is trying to take the company public with the help of the board of directors to take power from Tom, even though David is trying to stop him.

Cast

• Kevin Spacey^[4] as Tom Brand, a tycoon and owner of FireBrand who ends up in the body of a cat.
• Jennifer Garner^[5] as Lara Brand, Tom's second wife.
• Robbie Amell^[5] as David Brand, the son of Tom who works at FireBrand.
• Cheryl Hines as Madison Camden, the ex-wife of Tom and the mother of David.
• Malina Weissman^[6] as Rebecca Brand, the daughter of Tom and Lara and the half-sister of David.
• Christopher Walken as Felix Perkins,^[7] the owner of an exotic pet store.
• Mark Consuelos^[8] as Ian Cox, the top manager at FireBrand who schemes to take control of the company.
• Teddy Sears as Josh
• Talitha Bateman as Nicole^[9]
• Serge Houde as Board Member Stein^[10]
• Mark Camacho as Josh Boone
• Jon Olson as Mr. Fuzzypants' vocal effects

Barry Sonnenfeld and his daughter Chloe provide additional cat voices.

Production

On 12 January 2015, it was announced Barry Sonnenfeld would direct the film.^[11] On 28 January 2015, Kevin Spacey joined the cast.^[4] On 25 March 2015, Malina Weissman joined the cast.^[6] On 31 March 2015, Christopher Walken joined the cast to play Felix Perkins, the owner of a mystical pet shop,^[7] and on 9 April 2015, Jennifer Garner and Robbie Amell joined as well.^[5] On 13 April 2015, Mark Consuelos was cast in the film,^[8] and on 27 April 2015, Talitha Bateman was cast as well.^[9] Principal photography began on 4 May 2015, and ended on 24 July 2015.^[12][13]

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on 29 April 2016, by EuropaCorp,^[14] but was pushed back to 5 August 2016.^[15]

Box office

Nine Lives has grossed $19,700,032 in North America and $24,562,629 in other territories for a worldwide total of $44,262,661 against a budget of $30 million.^[3]

The film was released in North America on August 5, 2016 alongside Suicide Squad. The film was projected to gross $10 million from 2,264 theaters in its opening weekend.^[16][17] The film made $2,376,263 on its first day. It went on to gross $6,249,915 in its opening weekend, finishing 6th at the box office.^[18]

Critical reception

Nine Lives was panned by critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 11% based on 54 reviews with an average rating of 2.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Not meow, not ever."^[19] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 11 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike".^[20] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.^[21]

IndieWire's David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of D, saying, "Cats may have nine lives, but you only get one, and it’s too precious to waste on this drivel. You’re better off watching a gif of a cat whose face is stuck in a slice of bread. It will save you $20 and a few hours of your time".^[22] David Palmer of The Reel Deal gave the film 3/10, writing, "The only reason this 'comedy' won’t derail Kevin Spacey’s career is no one will ever watch this outside of military interrogation rooms".^[23] Rolling Stone's Peter Travers gave the film zero out of four stars and wrote, "At 87 torturous, laugh-free minutes, the film could change the most avid cat fancier into a kitty hater".^[24]

Home media

The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 1, 2016, by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in the United States.^[25]

References

External links

• Official website
• Nine Lives at the Internet Movie Database