I caught Nine today at the Prince Charles Cinema and was incredibly surprised to find it definitely wasn't as good as I expected it to be. I mean, I love musicals. It's pretty obvious given my love of Glee, cheesy music and dance. But, other than Marion Cotillard's incredible performance as Luisa Acari, the wife of the main character Guido Contini (played by Daniel Day-Lewis), nothing really stood out.

Certainly none of the songs will go down in history as being shining examples of great songwriting. And it's really odd. Director Rob Marshall did Chicago, after all. And while I felt that film wasn't as good as the stage musical, it was still very slick and somewhat cool. But Nine wasn't. And it has a cast of great actors - Nicole Kidman as Guido's muse Claudia, Penelope Cruz as his mistress, Sophia Loren as his mother, Dame Judi Dench as his costumer-designer, Kate Hudson as Vogue reporter Stephanie and Fergie as his first crush Seraghina - and still, it didn't work.

I'm not saying this film didn't deserve to be seen. It wasn't a bad way to kill some time on a Sunday afternoon. But it didn't make me feel better when the show ended. Ms. Cotillard's performance - full of pain and regret, all shown just in her eyes - was exquisite, and it made me all teary. Just watch her do Take It All when she finally explodes - gently yet full of raw emotion - and tells her husband that she cannot take him and their marriage anymore. It affected me incredibly as I've just been feeling rather lonely over the past few days, if not weeks. I fell in love with her when I first saw her in Jeux d'enfants. She just keeps getting better and better, both in looks and acting ability. Truly outstanding.