The Ninth Gate

Directed by Roman Polanski, starring Johnny Depp.

This very strange movie is about a book dealer, apreciator and general book hunter, who is hired by a fabulously wealthy book collector to evaluate the authenticity of a book, titled "The Ninth Gate". This book is rumored to be able to raise the devil to our world.

All in all, it's not a bad movie, per se, although it is extremely drawn-out, and really quite predictable at times (wow the book is really all three of the others, duh). The ending absolutely sucks, though. Almost nothing is resolved, and the lose ends pretty much jump up and strangle both the movie and the viewer. I like Depp, and I like Polanski, but the story just isn't that great. I also can't see Depp playing the part he plays- that of a total putz. This might be a good movie to watch with a bunch of buddies, since talking over half the movie really won't change that much, and it might make a good makeout movie, since NOTHING HAPPENS for half an hour at a time.

Bad movie based on an amazing book. Fortunately the title of the books was not used, so the two will never be confused. The books is titled The Club Dumas, and is by Arturo Perez-Reverte. For the movie half the plot (the part referenced in the book's title) was amputated, all depth in the occult plot was widdled away, the female main character (whose name, by the way, is Irene Adler, the name of the woman who defeated Sherlock Holmes) was altered badly, and the ending was badly mangled. As you might be able to guess, I have a bit of a grudge against Roman Polanski for his adaptation of one of my favorite books.

An excellent movie directed by Roman Polanski (Rosemary's Baby). Dean Corso (Johnny Depp) is a sleazy rare book dealer, who is hired by a wealthy patron with an obsession with the Devil. The collector has recently acquired a rare 17th century book, The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows. There are three copies of this tome left in the world - one is legitimate and the other two are forgeries. Corso is charged with finding the remaining two copies of the book, and determine which is authentic. With this book, a person can summon the powers of the devil and the collector will stop at nothing to find the true copy. The movie is based on the novel The Club Dumas by Arturo Perez-Reverte, but the actual plot was quite different. Some find the ending of the movie a bit of a let-down, but I thought it was well done. Worth watching.