'NINE' MOVING STORIES, TOLD CHAPTER BY CHAPTER.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

'NINE LIVES'' contains the stories of nine Los Angeles women told through flash-point moments using nine, single unbroken takes. Taken together, the tales don't add up to much, but some of the individual pieces are sensitive and keenly perceptive, containing fine work by a stellar roster of actresses.

Given the intimacy of its stories, the movie could play just as well on the small screen, where it should find a long life. However, women of a certain age looking for an alternative to ``In Her Shoes'' could find this rewarding. And the good news is that if one particular segment loses its way, you know writer-director Rodrigo Garcia will be starting a new chapter in a matter of minutes.

Garcia, the son of novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, has done this sort of thing before, in both his debut, ``Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her,'' and its follow-up, ``Ten Tiny Love Stories.'' There is some overlap in the stories here in ``Nine Lives,'' but, for the most part, it isn't particularly significant. The commonality comes more with the types of events depicted - invariably, they are disappointments - and the way the women respond with strength and resilience.

Sandra (Elpidia Carrillo) finds herself in jail, trying to be a model citizen but bursting into a rage when she can't connect with her visiting child. Diana (Robin Wright Penn) meets an old lover in a grocery store. (Shades of Dan Fogelberg.) Holly (Lisa Gay Hamilton) deals with an abusive past; Sonia (Holly Hunter) copes with an indifferent boyfriend.

A teen girl (Amanda Seyfried) tries to please her parents, who use their daughter to communicate with each other. Lorna (Amy Brenneman) deals with her ex-husband at the funeral of the woman who followed her. Ruth (Sissy Spacek) mulls over adultery; Maggie (Glenn Close) and Camille (Kathy Baker) ponder mortality.

Some of the material veers into disease-of-the-week territory; other stories (namely the Brenneman episode) are merely pointless. But the best of the lot - the lovely Wright Penn having her life turned upside down, Hamilton teetering on the edge of oblivion while confronting the ghosts of her childhood - are powerfully intense mini-dramas that leave you breathless when they fade to black. At least a few of these ``Nine'' are very fine.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

NINE LIVES - Two and one half stars

(R: language, brief sexual content, some disturbing images)

Starring: Holly Hunter, Sissy Spacek, Glenn Close and Robin Wright Penn.

Director: Rodrigo Garcia.

Running time: 1 hr. 55 min.

Playing: Laemmle's Sunset 5 in West Hollywood; Laemmle's Playhouse 7 in Pasadena; Landmark's Westside Pavilion.

In a nutshell: Nine stories about women told in nine unbroken takes. Some veer into movie-of-the-week territory, others make potent mini-dramas.

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Dakota Fanning and Glenn Close are two of the characters whose experiences are chronicled in ``Nine Lives.''