Nine Months
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChris Columbus
Screenplay byChris Columbus
Based onNeuf mois
1994 movie
by Patrick Braoudé
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyDonald McAlpine
Edited byRaja Gosnell
Music byHans Zimmer
Production
company
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • July 12, 1995 (1995-07-12)
[1]
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$138.5 million[2]

Nine Months is a 1995 American romantic comedy film produced, written and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Hugh Grant, Julianne Moore, Tom Arnold, Joan Cusack, Jeff Goldblum, and Robin Williams. It is a remake of the French film Neuf mois and served as Grant's first US starring role. It was filmed on location in the San Francisco Bay Area. The original music score was composed by Hans Zimmer. It was released on July 12, 1995, received mixed reviews from critics, and grossed $138 million worldwide.

Plot

Child psychologist Samuel Faulkner is in a long-term relationship with ballet teacher Rebecca Taylor. This all changes when Rebecca declares she is pregnant, and when questioned by Samuel about her birth control, she replies that birth control is only 97% effective.

Samuel's fears mount due to his encounters with overbearing couple Marty and Gail Dwyer and their three young unruly daughters, as well as the confusing advice he gets from Sean, his perpetually single artist friend and Gail's brother. Samuel is confused and unsure about what to do. Feeling that Samuel is not ready to be a father, Rebecca leaves him and moves in with Marty and Gail (who is also pregnant with a fourth child). Samuel tries to contact her, but she ignores him. Sean encourages him to move on, with Samuel trying new things like rollerblading, getting an earring, and going to parties, but the thought of Rebecca still weighs heavy on his mind.

When a woman makes a move on Samuel at a party, he declines, saying that he is not ready to move on yet. He later views an ultrasound of his soon-to-be-born son and decides that it is time to take responsibility before it is too late. He sells his Porsche, buys a family car, and gets back together with Rebecca, much to Gail's delight.

Samuel and Rebecca then get married and not long afterward, they go out to dinner. During an awkward moment where they bump into the woman he met earlier at the party, Rebecca goes into labor. They rush to the hospital, where they meet Marty and Gail; who has gone into labor as well. Rebecca gives birth to their baby boy named Samuel Jr. and Gail gives birth to their fourth daughter named Becky.

Cast

Production

Nine Months was filmed in the San Francisco area, including Marin County, Napa Valley, and Oakland, beginning in October 1994.[3]

Music

Reception

Box office

The movie debuted at #3 at the box office behind Apollo 13 and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory with $12.5 million in its opening weekend.[4] Nine Months went on to gross $138.5 million worldwide.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 33 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Nine Months finds writer-director Chris Columbus playing to his worst comedic instincts -- and relying far too heavily on the trademark tics of his miscast leading man."[5] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 47 out of 100, based on 23 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade "A−" on scale of A+ to F.[7]

Roger Ebert gave the film two stars, saying, "Nine Months is one of those movies where the outcome is abundantly clear to everyone but the hero, who remains in the hapless position of playing dumb because, if he didn't, there wouldn't be a plot."[8] Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "An exceedingly safe and conventional Chris Columbus comedy."[9]

Hugh Grant's opinion

Grant has spoken disparagingly of his performance in Nine Months, stating in an interview with the SAG-AFTRA Foundation that: "I really ruined it. And it was entirely my fault. I panicked, it was such a big jump up from what I'd been paid before to what they were offering me. And the scale was inhuman to my standards, you know the scale of the production, 20th Century Fox, the whole thing. And I just tried much too hard, and you know I forgot to do basic acting things, like mean it. So I pulled faces and overacted, it was a shocker."[10]

On another occasion, he referred to director Chris Columbus as a "genius" and his "brilliant" co-stars, but further commented: "You know, having been paid £20,000 or whatever it was, to do Four Weddings and a Funeral, if you're suddenly paid millions, you think well I better ramp up my performance by 200 times. But all that means is that you overact grotesquely, which is what I did. So I'm always very apologetic to those people."[11]

Grant says his disappointment at his performance in Nine Months, following a preview of the film, led him to "a Ken Russell kind of lunch" and later, engaging in a sex act with Divine Brown in Los Angeles in 1995.[12][13][14]

References

  1. ↑ "Nine Months (1995) - Release info - IMDb". IMDb.
  2. ↑ "Nine Months". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2020-04-04.
  3. ↑ PAUL WILLISTEIN (1995). "A LABOR OF LOVE DIRECTOR CHRIS COLUMBUS IMITATES LIFE IN 'NINE MONTHS'". The Morning Call. Archived from the original on 2021-08-24. Retrieved 2021-06-28.
  4. ↑ Dutka, Elaine (1995-07-18). "Weekend Box Office : 'Under Siege' Opens in No. 2 Spot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  5. ↑ "Nine Months (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
  6. ↑ "Nine Months Reviews". Metacritic.
  7. ↑ "NINE MONTHS (1995) A-". CinemaScore. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20.
  8. ↑ Ebert, Roger (1995-07-12). "Nine Months". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  9. ↑ McCarthy, Todd (10 July 1995). "Nine Months". Variety.
  10. ↑ SAG-AFTRA Foundation (2016-08-16). Conversations with Hugh Grant. YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  11. ↑ BAFTA New York (2016-09-06). Hugh Grant in Conversation BAFTA New York (video). BAFTA New York. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2018-06-27 – via YouTube.
  12. ↑ Maron, Marc. "Episode 1208 - Hugh Grant". WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "Hugh Grant says disappointment led him to prostitute encounter". Toronto Sun. World Entertainment News Network. March 12, 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  14. ↑ Ross, Martha (12 March 2021). "Hugh Grant hired sex worker because he was 'atrocious' in movie". The Mercury News. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
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