Birthday Girl
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Movie Reviews of Birthday Girl
Movie Review: Kidman shines in this refreshingly different, fantastic film
Summary: 5 Stars
Birthday Girl is an extraordinary film - and yet more proof that Nicole Kidman is the greatest actress of our generation (at least until Jodie Foster makes a comeback). It's hard to characterize this particular film, though - I wouldn't call it a dark comedy, as many do, because it is just far too dramatic, and it's hard to call it a love story just because that love story is such a strange one. However you categorize it, though, it is fantastic. It's not a film that will hit everyone's buttons, so I can understand some of the average reviews, but those who love Birthday Girl will absolutely adore it. Of course, some will make light of the fact that you have Nicole Kidman and two French actors playing Russians in a movie filmed in Australia and set in England. That does sound rather kooky, but everyone in this film, no matter where they are from or who they are playing, is amazing.
I'm not going to say all that much about the plot because Birthday Girl is driven by some pretty serious turning points and surprises - and I'm not going to spoil a single thing if I can help it. You basically start out with a young English fellow named John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin); he's a prisoner of his own boring life, and he decides to make the bold move of importing a mail order bride from Russia. When Nadia (Nicole Kidman) arrives, she's not exactly what he expected - there is, for instance, the rather bothersome fact that she does not speak a word of English (so much for truth in advertising). She is also, let us say, a little less than Kidman's normally glowing self early on. John makes a go of it, but he eventually decides to send Nadia back home. Nadia, however, has other plans, and I must say she makes quite a convincing case for keeping her around the house. She's quite amenable to John's somewhat extravagant, ahem, needs. Maybe things will work out after all, John thinks - and then two friends of Nadia's arrive for a visit. John's life will never be the same - not by a long shot. I have to question a few of John's actions later on, but the whole thing definitely makes for some great suspense and some crazy twists and turns.
As for the DVD, it comes without a commentary, unfortunately, but it does feature a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film along with a music video featuring Robbie Williams and Nicole Kidman.
Birthday Girl isn't really a film for those who like action and more action, or those who want to see everything laid out in a completely straightforward manner. This film is really about people and emotions and the uncanny ability for love to blossom in even the harshest of conditions. Even if you don't like the story, you can't help but be impressed by the performances, especially that of Kidman, who is more than convincing as a Russian. There is no role this amazing actress cannot play perfectly.
Movie Review: From Russia With Love
Summary: 5 Stars
Ben Chaplin gives an underplayed and terrific performance as a regular guy in England who knows that everyone is not lucky enough to meet the love of their life by chance. To this end, he decides to help things along via the internet, sending for a Russian girl he hopes will be the one.
This Jez Butterworth directed film is full of surprises as it moves from a tentative romance to a crime thriller of sorts and back to romance again. It is all done so well that your interest never lags and you have absolutely no idea how this journey will end. It is presented in an off-beat manner, however, and it is easy to understand the great divide between those who love this film and those much less enthusiastic.
Nicole Kidman is sexy and wonderful as John's would-be bride Nadia. The awkwardness of their first meeting at the airport and the drive home, punctuated by Nadia throwing up, is perfectly captured. She speaks no english whatsoever and John considers sending her back at first. But Nadia is sexually agressive and wants to please John, each encounter better than the last. It is John's heart, however, which is finally given to Nadia, as he begins wearing the ring she gave him everywhere.
But their tentative romance takes an unusual turn when two of her pals from Russia show up to see her. Vincent Cassel as Alexi and actor/director Mathieu Kassovitz are very good as her seemingly harmless friends. An advance made by one of them towards Nadia, however, turns this into a crime thriller, John having to commit a crime to save his newfound love. Only too late does he realize something much more is really at the heart of the matter.
To reveal anything further might ruin the film's impact for those viewing this for the first time. Through all the shifts in genre, however, there is a certain mood of loneliness and anguish for love which runs through the fabric of this film like a soft yet unbreakable thread spun with great care by Chaplin's every guy performance and the increasingly haunted eyes of Kidman's Nadia, a window to her heart.
Set in England but actually filmed in Kidman's home country of Australia, she is quite fabulous in Birthday Girl. Those weary of paint by the numbers formula romances will find this refreshing and enjoy it more than others. It is definitely one of those films which either hits you just right or all wrong. A fabulous little film you'll have to decide on for yourself.
Movie Review: An Electrifying and Romantic Black Comedy.
Summary: 5 Stars
The idea of a mail-order bride is something that a surprising amount of men consider at one point or another. How many of those men actually act on it is a different story. Whatever the case may be, director Jez Butterworth's new film, "Birthday Girl", explores the possibilities of everything that could go wrong with a bride that one has to pay for. It's been said before, and it will be said again: Crossing genre lines can be an extremely risky undertaking, with the results often ending up disastrous. That is not the case with "Birthday Girl", which carefully treads the border between lighthearted romantic comedy and dark crime drama. The transition from one to the other is rather steep, but it makes itself work due to the amazing script by Jez and Tom Butterworth. The brothers balance every part of their film to prevent any one aspect from becoming too overpowering. When it seems like the "dark side" is taking over, they kick in a little notch of sly comedy or some playful banter between the two leads. The first twenty minutes of the film is the romance section. It's cute at times, and, at other times, very sensual. The romance here is very believable, despite the farfetched conditions that led up to it. When the thriller part takes over, the picture just continues to shine, allowing more room for the main characters to gain some depth. Ben Chaplin gives a decent performance, but he is sort of passive to begin with anyway. It's actually quite hard to pinpoint specific emotions that he portrays throughout the film because he almost always looks the same. It's not a terrible performance by any means, but it in no way compares to that of Nicole Kidman. Nic is perfection. She brings an incredibly human quality to a character that would have otherwise been cursory. Kidman's Nadia is an exotic kitten - mischievous, deceiving, and .... She is a truly awesome actress. "Birthday Girl" is the first great film of 2002. It's a mesmerizing and seductive masterpiece that works impeccably as both a romantic comedy and a thriller. Throw in Nic Kidman, and, pretty soon, people are going to start saying, "She was married to Tom WHO?"Movie Review: underrated comedy of the year!
Summary: 5 Stars
The story of 2 girafes falling in love.This is one of the funniest movies I've seen all year. It's a shame no one saw it, and it was marketed & reviewed so horribly. The trailers really were selling it as some sort of sexy, edgy, thriller. When it's really a different kind of comedy. More Romancing the Stone than Fatal Attraction. Nicole Kidman does a great Russian accent and speaks it too, and Ben Chaplin is the greatest sap next to John Cusack or Hugh Grant. The movie's hilarious. He digs at her: "don't give me that 'it's so hard in Russia in winter, that we have to eat each other...it's so cold that we have to go to England & shag people to keep warm". She digs at him: "what did you way, 'when I grow up what I want is to still be in this town, in this job that I hate, in a house with ants & a big bag of pornography, and then I'm going to send off to Russia for a wife and she will fall in love with me".
I started laughing and didn't stop. Yes, there are dramatic moments, and there's some suspense...but that just heightens the humor. It's not like an in-your-face screwball comedy, it's just that the situations that the characters manage to get into are simply HILARIUOS! 2002 was a bang up year for Nicole Kidman with Moulin Rouge, The Others, and this underrated gem...it just prooves what a diverse actress she really is. So everyone go out and see this movie.
The DVD is pretty great too. There's a making of featurette, and a really cool video (Somethin Stupid) with Nicole and Robbie Williams that was #1 in the UK.
Movie Review: Underated but stunning, what else is new?
Summary: 5 Stars
Birthday Girl just proves yet again that Nicole Kidman is the best actress on the Hollywood scene today. In this movie, she pulls off Russian and a Russian accent very believably.Ben Chaplin is also excellent in this film. He, like this film, may be one of the most underrated actors I can think of. He delievers every line like it's the most vital in the scrip, and it's just moving to watch someone so into their role. The pair have massive chemistry on screen, and you feel it from when they first meet in the airport until the last line.
This movie, about a British man and his mail-order bride from Russia, manages to entangle you in a web of unexpected suspense, dark humor, and erotic romance. Many movies fail at every attempt to mix genres, but it works for Birthday Girl.
This film does take a certain tase, however. This movie plays more like a very well-made indie film than it does a Hollywood blockbuster hit. It has amazing action and runs at a fast pace, which does set it apart from many indies.
If you've seen the trailer for this movie and read about it and think you'd like it, believe me then, you will.