The Nines (R, 2007)

THE NINES is a three-part movie featuring the same set of actors in different roles. In the first section, dubbed "The Prisoner," Ryan Reynolds is Gary, a TV star who goes on a huge drinking and drugging binge after his girlfriend breaks his heart. Under house arrest, his only link to the outside world is publicist Margaret (Melissa McCarthy), until he chats up the next-door neighbor, Sarah (Hope Davis), a new mom bored out of her mind. Gary becomes convinced the place is haunted by beings that whisper of the "nines" and that both Margaret and Sarah may be in on the whole mystery. In "Reality Television," Reynolds plays Gavin, the meticulous screenwriter who owns the house where Gary was staying in "The Prisoner." The segment follows Gavin as he sets about creating a TV series called Knowing that stars McCarthy, who plays herself. But a snaky TV exec, Susan (Davis), eventually scuttles his plans. The final segment, "Knowing," is a re-telling of Gavin's pilot script. Reynolds now plays Gabriel, a videogame designer who leaves his wife (McCarthy) and daughter (Elle Fanning) in their broken-down car, which is stuck on a remote trailhead, so he can get help. Instead, he runs into a hiker (Davis), who's not what she seems.

There's surreal, and then there's absurd, and John August's feature-film directing debut -- he's written lots of movies, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Big Fish, and Tim Burton's Corpse Bride -- definitely tends toward the latter. A mishmash that pulls from wildly varying genres (it's a comedy! it's a thriller! no, it's a drama!), The Nines' three distinct segments are stitched together by a metaphysical motif that drowns its wit and smarts.

McCarthy and Davis are both total pros, but the film best showcases Reynolds, who proves adept at switching gears (he's best as Gavin; surprisingly, it's his take on Gary the TV actor that rings the most hollow). And while August deserves kudos for attempting a new cinematic recipe, The Nines is woefully half-baked. In the hands of a master of the surreal and offbeat -- Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Jonze, or even Michel Gondry -- it might have been a success. Instead, it's just frustratingly baffling. If only August could have picked one of his three tales and run with it.