Nine Days!

People kept reacting to hearing that his defense was viewing nine days from his life.

It's clear in the film that to look at fewer days indicates more likelihood of moving on and up. Looking at more days indicates a more doubtful outcome.

This doesn't need to have a reason to work well as an Albert Brooks joke, but it's curious. My guess is that if you have enough courageous acts in your life, as Julia does, then viewing four days is plenty. If your courage is more "nuanced" or complex, or needs explanation and defense, then more days will be necessary to make the point. Close but still doesn't seem like an explanation to me.

The real point of course is that Albert Brooks predicaments always leave him in situations where he is learing about something that he lacks that he doesn't know how to get. Modern Love is full of them.