Birthday Girl

Rating:
Summary: The critics should really have merci...
Review: Imagine Nicole Kidman with black hair and tons of black eye shadow. Can't imagine that? Then see the much-delayed British film "Birthday Girl." Originally scheduled for release in September 2000, this crime comedy was filmed while Kidman was still married to Tom Cruise. She wasn't nearly as famous then as she is now, after starring last year in two award-worthy films - "Moulin Rouge" and "The Others."
In comparison, "Birthday Girl" looks and feels low budget. Which it is. That doesn't make it a bad picture. Kidman's deadpan humor is slyly diverting, and her fake Russian accent is delivered with such a lack of pretension, her role as a mail-order bride from Moscow is cute. But after Kidman's year of living famously Hollywood-style, you can bet she won't be appearing in any more pictures like this.
Here she plays a Russian mail-order bride, showing up at the international flights gate of London's airport to meet her computer-matched mail-order buyer, John Buckingham. He is played as a perpetually befuddled bank clerk by Ben Chaplin - exactly the sort of role that brought Hugh Grant so much box office success in the 1990s. For the first two-thirds of "Birthday Girl," Kidman doesn't have any lines in English at all. She speaks Russian. No word, yet, on how she sounds to Russian ears.
This picture is set in the London commuter suburb of St. Albans, filled with new generic architecture where colorless John Buckingham puts in long hours at work, then spends his free time feeling quite lonely. Though John has a sparkling suburban cottage with a big back yard, he always turns to his computer for release - surfing Websites that offer chances to meet beautiful Russian women. Spotting a picture of Nadia (Kidman), and biographic info claiming she is fluent in English, he signs up.
Within just a few minutes of screen time, John is standing at that London airport gate, staring at this dark-haired, heavily made-up woman named Nadia. She's wearing funny-looking foreign clothes and doesn't speak a word of English. What follows is a brisk British crime comedy filled with uniquely English humor we can only describe as droll. Think of "Sexy Beast" with more romance and less violence. Think of a half-dozen Australian comedies that can only be described as quirky. Toss in the words "wry" and "ironic," too.
"Birthday Girl" is a group effort from the British brothers Jez, Tom and Stephen Butterworth. Jez is the director and co-writer with Tom. Stephen is co-producer with Diana Phillips. This is the group's second film together, but the first with actors who have international reputations.
Also taking part are two well-known names in French cinema, Vincent Cassel ("Brotherhood of the Wolves") and Mathieu Kassovitz, who played the boyfriend in "Amélie."
The plot also contains some genuine surprises early on, so providing even the most vague synopsis is impossible. John and Nadia are definitely opposites that seem to have little chance of attracting each other - until Nadia's two Russian friends (Cassel and Kassovitz) show up. Their entrance is a big surprise, too, but it is just the beginning.
Suffice it to say we learn Nadia is only an alias (she has two additional aliases). We learn what "pillock" means in England, we learn mail-order brides can arrive carrying more baggage than their suitcases, and we learn Nadia is a chain smoker. There are several toilet scenes, one kick-in-the-crotch scene, one scene where John uses an acoustic guitar as a lethal weapon (though an electric guitar would have worked better) and visual proof that throughout the labyrinthine turns in this tale of comedy and crime, Kidman remains the tallest person onscreen.
The very harsh criticism that killed the public opinion really ruined the movie. When the critics hear of a romantic thirller, they excpect conventional 'John loved Jane, Bad Luck, Sob Sob Sob...'. This movie delivers many hidden messages wrapped in many sexual symbols with great acting and great direction. It is a vluable asset to any library.

Rating:
Summary: The Candles Wont Burn For Long
Review: This off-beat British comedy directed by Jez Butterworth is a story of melancholy middle class bank teller, Ben Chaplin, who longs for a bit of companionship. As with so many modern men of today, he resorts to the internet and stumbles upon a website for mail-order Russian brides. Here he finds Nadia, Nicole Kidman, whom he orders only to find she is not what he expected. The building comedy turns quickly into a thrilling story of a betrayed man on the run. Yet, this film remains consistently light in its tone despite the dark subjects of abuse and unwanted pregnancy it could allow to overwhelm it.

These well-known and respected actors do a fantastic job in their performances especially the Frenchmen Vincent Cassel & Mathieu Kassovitz and popular red-head Nicole Kidman, none of whom spoke Russian before this film and all do a convincing job of it. Not only that, but the language barrier draws out numerous quirky expressions from the actors showing their real talent. The film is beautifully shot, alternately filmed in the UK and Australia, with captivating scenes in the forest where the characters work out their plight. Ultimately, not a tremendously memorable film, but one that is skilfully designed and keeps some good laughs. What's enduring is the more realistic human aspect it contains and would probably lack if it were an American romantic-comedy. Surely it won't be a blockbuster as one might expect from its stars, but it is plenty of fun.

Rating:
Summary: Will the real Nicole Kidman please stand up?
Review: I did not recognize Nicole Kidman's talent until I saw "To Die For." In fact, I didn't really know who Nicole Kidman was. But I thought she was wonderful as the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth wife who plots to kill her young husband so that she can become the next Jane Pauley. The thing is, she was so very credible in that role, so very natural. You would not expect her to be any different in any other role. However, in "Birthday Girl," she plays a Russian bride come to England to marry a bank clerk-looser type. I won't give away the story line, but she looks Russian, speaks Russian, and gives a very sincere and striking performance. Ben Chaplin is very good as well. But this is really Kidman's film, which is well worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: Tries to be a romantic/comedy/thriller, but fails in all 3
Review: Birthday Girl, while sporting a great performance by Nicole Kidman as a Russian mail order bride, suffers from not quite knowing what kind of film it wants to be.

The plot, complete with a few twists, explores a lonely British banker's attempt to find love via a mail order bride, and his turmoil when he gets in over his head in a scam. Kidman's performance is totally believable (of course I'm no Russian, so I don't have a real knowledgeable opinion on that), and the story starts out mildly entertaining. But as the plot thickens the movie at times seem like it wants to be original before beginning to rely on overused plot devices that belong in B-movie romances and thrillers. Unfortunately, Kidman's performance isn't enough to keep the movie entertaining and the film never really manages to rise above mediocrity.

Most annoying is the way this film starts out like a romantic comedy, becomes a thriller, and goes back to romantic comedy, to dark comedy and back to thriller. It doesn't really blend them together into a cohesive form. You can combine all these genres into a good film, but Birthday Girl can't quite juggle them without dropping the ball.

The critics were right about Kidman's performance, but the reason why they focused on her and didn't comment much on the rest of the movie is clear when you watch it. It's not a bad movie, just not one to get excited about.

Rating:
Summary: Underated but stunning, what else is new?
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Russian lived in London?
Review: First i have to say that there this NO subtitle in the Russia part, that's so bad...I know nothing about Russia language, and some important parts of this movie i even can not understand... i don't know if I should go to college to study Russian more. just kidding.
Any way the "Russian" + "Beauty" + "Romatic" + "Boring"= "birthday girl"

If u wanna talk about this movie more, drop me a mail: [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Will the real Nicole Kidman please stand up?
Review: I did not recognize Nicole Kidman's talent until I saw "To Die For." In fact, I didn't really know who Nicole Kidman was. But I thought she was wonderful as the butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth wife who plots to kill her young husband so that she can become the next Jane Pauley. The thing is, she was so very credible in that role, so very natural. You would not expect her to be any different in any other role. However, in "Birthday Girl," she plays a Russian bride come to England to marry a bank clerk-looser type. I won't give away the story line, but she looks Russian, speaks Russian, and gives a very sincere and striking performance. Ben Chaplin is very good as well. But this is really Kidman's film, which is well worth watching.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: This was an outstanding movie, and Kidman outdid herself! When the movie was at theaters, I read mixed reviews on this one. I decided to go see it and loved it so much I bought the DVD. There are explicit sex scenes, but otherwise it is not offensive. The story is very clever, and it keeps you guessing until the very end. You can't say a lot without giving away the surprises. Kidman plays a Russian bride and she does an incredible job of speaking Russian. Her "husband" is a pathetic kind of guy, but you really feel sorry for him when the scam begins! It's a great story and I really recommend this DVD!

Rating:
Summary: Happy Birthday?
Review: What happens when a run-of-the mill fellow who has a run-of-the mill average life as a run-of-the mill banker chooses to have a mail order bride from Russia? What happens when she ends up looking like Nicole Kidman? What happens if she IS Nicole Kidman?

Well, therein lies the premise of the plot. However, it does get a bit more interesting than just that. Our poor naive banker is about to have his life disrupted in ways he'd never thought possible, and we have the obnoxious pleasure of watching everything come unraveled.

Much of the plot is fairly predictable. It is unfortunate that the banker is the only one who is entirely clueless about what's going on. Along the way there are some great laughs that center around the most unlikely of what would be considered "humorous" material.

So, next time you have a birthday & have a yearning for a quasi-erotic thriller that also happens to be quite funny, give this yarn a try. After all, birthdays only come round once a year!

Rating:
Summary: Better than expected
Review: I was compelled to write this review to defend the movie against the mostly negative criticism it has received. I watched it recently, and enjoyed it more than I expected to. I don't know why it is, but people just don't like to have their movie genres mixed-up. Yes you could say it's part romantic comedy, part thriller, part drama...but so was "Nurse Betty" and that's a really good film. In places the film is laugh-out-loud funny (usually from one of Ben Chaplin's lines), and at other times it's serious. Both Kidman and Chaplin give good performances, and the pace is kept reasonably tight with a not-too-long running time. Kidman is convincing as the russian mail order bride, and Chaplin delivers most of the film's laughs. I liked it near the end when Kidman turns the joke of saying "yes" to everything back on Chaplin!. My only point of contention with the movie (***POSSIBLE SPOILER***) is where Chaplin's character is forced to rob a bank...why didn't he just go straight to the police? This bothered me for a while, but by the end of the movie I was willing to overlook it.Ebert & Roeper (who gave it two thumbs down) said the movie was "predictable" - to me it was anything BUT predictable. Unless you want your movies neatly filed under distinctive categories/genres, I urge you to give this film a go...you may be surprised.