Film Review: Birthday Girl

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Feb 8, 2002

The latest movie from Nicole Kidman, Birthday Girl has recently hit theatres. There has been some buzz surrounding this movie, mostly because of Kidman's recent Golden Globe win for Moulin Rouge and the strong critical praise that her work has received from both Moulin Rouge and The Others. However, while Birthday Girl is entertaining and occasionally funny, it is not of the same caliber of some of Kidman's other work. At most, it is a good diversion.

Birthday Girl is a crime film and romantic comedy which revolves around a lonely bank employee, John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin, The Truth About Cats and Dogs), who seeks a bride off of an Internet site entitled "From Russia With Love." What he gets is Nadia (Nicole Kidman), who is not entirely what he expects or had requested. In particular John is upset that Nadia does not speak English and that she smokes, and he attempts several times to contact the agency to return her and buys a ticket to send her back to Russia. However, Nadia eventually persuades him, mostly through seduction and sex, to let her stay and to go forth with the marriage. They both seem blissful and there is a palpable chemistry between Kidman and Chaplin in these early scenes. But the audience discovers that the bliss is to be short-lived. One day Nadia mentions to John that the following day is her birthday and that there will be a party. He arrives home on her birthday to find two strange men in his home, one named Yuri (Mathieu Kassovitz, Amelie) who is supposedly Nadia's cousin, and an actor named Alexei (Vincent Cassell, Brotherhood of the Wolf. From this point, John's life is turned upside down. He discovers that the men and his own bride are not who he thinks, and he is forced into a situation which destroys the peaceful life he had created and puts him on the run and in danger.

The film's best quality is the chemistry between Kidman and Chaplin in the early part of the movie. Although their relationship is sexually-charged and the physical attraction between John and Nadia is primarily the basis for their relationship, it is also interesting to see how they relate to each other outside of the bedroom. There is something sweet and romantic about these interactions between two people who are basically strangers. Yet, after these initial sparks, the movie falls somewhat flat. Vincent Cassell and Matthieu Kassovitz are effective as Alexei and Yuri, but their performances are not particularly noteworthy. Also, as the film progresses from a romance to more of a crime film, it begins to drag a little. Instead of becoming more exciting, the pace seems to slow a bit. It is possible that Birthday Girl had the potential to be a better movie if it remained only about the budding romance between a bank employee and his mail-order bride without introducing the elements of danger and betrayal.

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