You can remake a classic, but you can’t repeat it. So director Rob Marshall (“Chicago”)  threw a smart curveball with his retelling of Federico Fellini’s 1963 autobiographical masterpiece “8 1⁄2”—he chose instead to adapt its 1982 musical spin-off, “Nine.” And the result, though flawed in many ways, is rather entertaining. 

Set in 1960s Rome, the film opens with a press conference where film maestro Guido Contini (Daniel Day-Lewis) explains how a film dies once it is put in production. Through a dream sequence and Guido’s monologue, we discover that the protagonist is deeply troubled by the ladies in his life, as well as his general drying up of creativity. With a new project titled “Italia” set to start in two weeks, Guido panics as he hasn’t written the screenplay, and flees to a seaside spa to canoodle with his mistress, Carla (Penélope Cruz). But soon his producer chases him down, the whole crew in tow. And then the women arrive: his wife and former leading lady, Luisa (Marion Cotillard); his designer/confidante/therapist, Lilli (Judi Dench); his muse, Claudia (Nicole Kidman); American journalist and groupie, Stephanie (Kate Hudson, playing the Penny Lane of the film world); his now-diseased mother (Sophia Loren); and childhood sexual fantasy object Saraghina (Fergie, as lascivious as can be - yum!), all appearing in dreams and memories. They surround him, pushing him to the edge. 

Among the dazzling cast, who all belt out the songs pretty damn well, half don’t have real characters to play—Hudson and Kidman’s parts are rather boring, and Loren’s appearance is a mere cameo. And while Fergie and Dench are both amazingly sexy and sassy, it’s Cruz and Cotillard who truly stand out, playing the passionate yet fragile lover and the wronged wife with a respectful dignity. The ever-impeccable maestro Day-Lewis offers another solid, but not astonishing, performance.