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Nicole Kidman's 'Birthday Girl' is full of surprises

By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

BIRTHDAY GIRL (Rated R for sexuality, language) Three Stars (Good) Nicole Kidman, fresh from winning a Golden Globe for her role in "Moulin Rouge," stars as a Russian mail-order bride with a past. When she arrives as the wife of a timid British bank clerk, all is not what it seems. Also starring Ben Chaplin, Vincent Cassel, and Mathieu Kassovitz. Directed and co-written by Jez Butterworth. Miramax Films, 93 mins.

As Nadia, a dishy Russian mail-order bride, she commands attention from the minute she shows up at a London airport. From the get-go, she is an enigma to the man who sent for her, buttoned-down banker John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin). John, a slave to organized living, thought selecting a mate through an Internet marriage-broker would be more efficient than more conventional methods.

But poor John's neatly ordered existence starts going ragged all at once. First, he finds Nadia can't speak English. Then he can't reach the marriage-broker. Just when he's about to send her packing, she discovers his favorite sexual fantasy (ropes are involved), which she promptly uses to change his mind.

As the couple seem to be settling into semi-marital bliss, a pair of Russian "cousins" show up and move in. Yuri (Mathieu Kassovitz) is outgoing and English-speaking. Alexei (Vincent Cassel) knows only Russian but is obviously a lout in any language.

Things get strange, then dangerous, then demented — a progression that director Jez Butterworth (who co-wrote the script with his brother Tom) spins into a most satisfying skein of surprises.

There are some ugly moments (as when Kidman is beaten or slapped or threatened with boiling water), which Butterworth manages to balance with a ballast of comic weirdness.

Kidman couldn't be better in this role; she carries herself with absolute confidence throughout a story that requires her repeatedly to shift emotional gears in an eye-blink.

Chaplin matches her step-for-step, as a victim of sometime near-catatonic repression scrambling to respond when events spin-kick him straight out of his comfort zone.

As a quasi-caper flick, "Birthday Girl" also masters the challenge of keeping things interesting to the end.

That is not to say there is nothing predictable about the movie, or that some of the plot twists aren't contrived. But the flaws do not begin to outweigh a snappy story and a leading lady's exceptional performance.

Rated R for sexuality, language; contains some subtitles.