Rating: 
Summary: Darkly disturbing
Review: I bought this film thinking that it was going to be a rom-com, plus I liked the picture of Nicole Kidman on the front cover. (Although, after seeing the photo at the top of this page, I prefer that one!) Reading the back of this gives you the idea that its a nice happy film, where true loves wins.It's not. The start of it is too fast. Within minutes, the two main characters are meeting. There's a few sex scenes, including Nicole Kidman being tied up (how cliched), and then it descends into utter madness. It fast becomes a dark, violent film, leaving you wondering if there were two scriptwriters working on this, with very different ideas of how the film should be. If it had stayed the same at the start, I would have given it a higher mark. Ben Chaplain's character just annoyed me, but I really liked Nicole Kidman in this. It's a different role than she would normally play. There's one scene that will stick out in my mind for this film, and its a very tender scene. It's when Ben Chaplain & Nicole Kidman are lying together in bed, and she's asleep. It's so sweet when he brushes hair off her face, and just watches her sleep. Makes you go "awwwwww". There's one good extra, which I also bought it for, and was very disappointed. Nicole Kidman & Robbie Williams did a duet of "Something Stupid" (and she showed Tom Cruise exactly what he was losing by divorcing her!), and the video to this was on the DVD. Unfortunately, they covered all the good bits with clips from the film. The original video had some very saucy scenes between Robbie & Nicole, leading people to speculate if they were having a fling. I was very disappointed not to see these. I don't regret buying this film, or watching it. Despite losing its originality half way through, and for most of the duration of the film, it does pick up slightly towards the end, although it doesn't match up to the beginning.
Rating: 
Summary: AN INTRIGUING RACKET, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE.
Review: Combine a healthy dose of plot twists with a romantic thriller, and it is quite easily a movie you HAVE to watch. A UK man gets himself a mail-order bride from Moscow, and the woman does not speak any English. On her birthday after a few days she has surprise friends over, a couple of Russians. Well, without divulging any more, things go berserk from this moment on and what follows are the travails of the couple. The movie has its share of lighter moments as well as nail-biting cliffhanger ones. Nicole Kidman is stunning and has a Russian accent down pat. Ben Chaplin is convincing in his role but bobs a squint too many. The narrative is relaxed, characters take time to develop, so it is conceivable why this wasn't an action-packed crowd puller. But I was quite contentedly absored in how everything unfurled. The movie gets a thumbs-up from me, interesting theme with several thoughtful messages wrapped in what could so nearly have been a chick-flick had it not been for the clever twists. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: great film i need to see it again
Review: This was a goood film and I like miss kidman I love all her work I remember seeing her in the great TO DIE FOR that was a good film.Now this film didn't play very well in 2001,but that ok see I still love this film it has comedy and drama and it's dark as well. Nicole is sexy as hell her body is slim long and lean. And I love her nice creamy white skin this is the film you should buy if your a Nicole Kidman fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Movie, Stupid People
Review: This movie, Birthday Girl, is a good movie. Do you know how certain characters just kind of aggrevate you? That is how this movie is. You want to slap the characters upside the head for making certain decisions. Other times, you may laugh or just turn your head. Parts of this film, in my opinion, were not needed to make a satisfactory movie. If those parts were not included, this could easily be rated pg-13.
Rating:
Summary: Sumptuous sex-comedy/thriller
Review: THis is a beautifully crafted film! A fantastic and thrilling narrative that defies conventional categories. The writer/director tends to call it the movie a "sex-comedy", but that does an injustice to the wonderful element of tension and suspense this film carries with it. Ben Chaplin plays a dillignet but boerd bank employee living in the British countryside. Chaplin's character John sends away for a charming, well educated Russian Bride and ends up with a chain smoking woman that doesn't speak a word of English. I honestly didn't realize how obscenely talented and dedicated Nicole Kidman is as an actor. The Screenwriting is also superb. Every element of the storyline fell beutifully into place at just the right moments. The movie has a great romantic storyline that doesn't make the mistake of trying too hard to actually be romantic. Aslo, I was rather impressed after finding out that the actors that played Alexi and Yuri were both Frenchmen -- they pulled of the Russian convincingly and effortlessly. IN fact all of the performances, including Nicole Kidman's come off stunningly, without the slightest stench of pretense or effort.
Rating:
Summary: Misinformation a go-go!
Review: Considering when filming for this began (1998), Nicole Kidman's star quality is already extremely obvious. Whilst her accent may not be spot on it certainly does enough to convince viewers of her nationality for the 90 minute duration of the film. I have no qualms with the acting or storyline, all are solid in my opinion. However, what does lower my appreciation of the film is the portrayal of the City of St. Albans. As a resident, I can safely say that St. Albans is a city, not a suburb or 'small town' as billed. Neither is it attached to London in any way but in fact is in a separate county (think 'state' on a smaller scale). The fact remains that the St. Albans scenes were only shot on location for a few months, when production moved to Australia where Kidman could stay with her family during a time of personal crisis. Therefore the St. Albans scenery is decidedly unrealistic and lacklustre. Despite what this film suggests, St. Albans is a city with a rich and colourful history spanning over 2000 years and home of the first Christian martyr in Britain. However, if you are looking for an entertaining film and really don't care about the factual details (and lets face it, movies are supposed to be escapism), then watch this. It's really quite a darling film.
Rating: 
Summary: So-So
Review: I just saw this on tv this weekend, eh, it's an okay movie to watch on tv but don't buy it. The whole plot was really cliche with the whole "i'm not who you think I am" theme. The story was pretty simple and light. It was about a lonely guy who lives in England. He gets a mail order bride from Russia and it turns out that she's a con artist and she makes him steal $90,000 from his office. Thus, he has to hide from the law with her most of the movie. It's pretty entertaining but just a really simple, trite plot. So, if it happens to be on tv and you catch it at the beginning, you should watch it. But it'ss not worth paying money for.
Rating:
Summary: Nicole and Chaplin incredibly worked well together
Review: Rated as an "erotic comedy" (by its own director), "Birthday girl" is a funny and interesting low-budget british movie, based on a quite obvious but functional script. Ben Chaplin plays John, the nerdy guy who, while surfing the net, finds a site named "From Russia With Love". The site provides british guys with russian women who want to be married in England. Chaplin has the perfect face of the freightened but semi-strong-willed type who thinks his life [stinks] but has no power to improve it. Nicole Kidman is the perfect quasi-naive russian girl with huge sex-appeal. The pair is perfect on screen. Nicole Kidamn didn't speak a word of russian, but found out a way to look like she was a native from Moscow. That's the kind of actress she is. After stepping out of the shadow of her ex-husband, Nicole has been elevated as the top actress of her generation, and I think she deserves it. Two french actors, Vincent Cassell and Mathiew Kassovitz, as "Nadia"'s strange, funny and sometimes violent cousins, give the movie the right tone between morbid and comedy. When these two "cousins" arrive at John's door, the situation gets out of control, and John's life will be agitated beyond his wildest dreams. As it may seem in a quick glance, "Birthday girl" is not just a funny and stupid-looking movie. It has some deeper meanings (not that much deep, but they're there); it's a modern movie that deals with current possible situations. Grade 8.0/10
Rating: 
Summary: One Weird /StrangeFilm
Review: I have no problem with viewing regular "sex" in a R-rated movies,but this was kind of sick and strange. I thought when I rented this -it was going to be like a suspense murder type of mystery and maybe a foriegn woman with a past.Boy! was I mistaken! The dist. should write this movie contain S & M sex in it on the label description.I only watched half it and had to turn it off.I was very diappointed because I normally like Nicole Kidman.The "Others" movie was great.
Rating:
Summary: Finding love in a maelstrom
Review: Some little surprises await patient and open-minded watchers of this great little movie. And a key word that describes many aspects of this film is "little". It's a little exciting, a little funny, a little dramatic, a little romantic, a little quirky, a little thrilling, a little action-oriented, a little sad - I think you get my drift. All of these "little" elements make for a really good story. The acting and script are also great, and I have new-found respect for Nicole Kidman's artistic abilities. A caveat: It's probably much better to watch this movie without knowing too much about it. Basically the story revolves around a young couple, John and Sophie. John is a lonesome bachelor who hooks up with Sophie via an internet service that places Russian brides. Without delving into specifics, just remember the adage about how "opposites attract". Soon thereafter, events begin to take some wild and unpredictable turns. John realizes, as you will too, that he is in way, way over his head with what he had envisioned as his ideal wife. Throughout, Sophie maintains a coolness and eerie level-headedness that seems uncanny, as all sorts of chaos and dilemmas ensue. Underneath all of the happenings and emotional zigzagging that John and Sophie endure, there is a subtle connection that begins to touch both of them. I guess this really is some sort of love story, but you have to look at it pretty closely to realize it. "Birthday Girl" is like an airplane ride to a neat place, but with lots of turbulence. If you decide to take this ride, remember to fasten your seat belt.
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