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A film with
too many ideas and not enough focus.
Nigel Bell
After Moulin
Rouge and The
Others, Nicole Kidman is on for a hat-trick of success.
Sadly for her,
ex-Tom Cruise is the only one likely to be celebrating and that's
for Minority Report.
The Plot
Boring banker John Buckingham seeks a partner via the internet.
He joins the
From Russia With Love agency and buys himself Nicole Kidman, on
the promise she can speak fluent English.
When she answers
questions like "Are you a giraffe" with "yes"
he knows he's in trouble.
Calls to the
agency are worthless. He's lumbered.
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| Who's a
bit tied up then? |
Nadia (Kidman)
takes the direct way to John's heart (and it isn't by cooking).
When she discovers
his stash of porn John's life improves still further.
It's all too
good to be true. Nadia announces it's her birthday and two friends
from Russia arrive. John's life will never be the same again.
The verdict
Birthday Girl begins with a really interesting premise.
Why should someone as seemingly steady as John seek love from Russia
and what would you do if you were suddenly faced with living with
a non-English speaking wife?
Sadly, from
the moment Nadia's friends Yuri and Alexi arrive the film goes pear-shaped.
That's not to
say the acting is bad.
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| We're taking
over |
Kidman delivers
in a brave role where her beauty is laid bare by no make-up, torn
clothes and bruised skin. She also goes through most of the film
saying only "yes" but still commands attention.
Without stamping
any authority, Chaplin (star of the 91热爆 comedy series Game On
and also in Murder
By Numbers) is okay as lead man John.
Even Mathieu
Kassovitz (of Amelie fame) and Vincent Cassel (the voice
of Robin Hood in Shrek)
are engaging as Nadia's friends.
The problem
is in the writing. Jez and Tom Butterworth don't seem to know what
they want from this film.
It begins as
a comedy, although an extremely light comedy. Don't believe what
anyone else might say, the humour in this is nowhere near that of
a film like About
A Boy.
But suddenly
the it lurches to thriller / heist status.
This only succeeds
in watering everything down before becoming ludicrous towards the
end.
A disappointment
given the potential of the storyline especially when John becomes
a virtual prisoner in his own home.
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