The biggest takeaway from Nine Lives is how surprisingly mean-spirited it is in a non-cynical way. Every character is completely reprehensible. Aside from Tom, his wife (Jennifer Garner) has an entire subplot devoted to her unfaithfulness and aspirations for a divorce. She’s been seeing someone else behind Tom’s back but we’re supposed to root for her because Tom works too much. His son (Robbie Amell), is the definition of a pushover until the script conveniently needs him to care about his father’s company and well-being. If these don’t sound reprehensible enough, then Tom’s partner Ian takes the cake considering he’s practically a supervillain. While Tom’s human body lies in a coma, Ian manipulates the board members to sell off the company. Unless your child is fond of the politics of company ownership percentages, this entire subplot is superfluous. This is a world in which the rules of morality are nonexistent and everyone is just a despicable human being. – Matthew Goudreau
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