Saturday, July 18, 2015

Birthday Girl 2001


Birthday Girl     The setting of this film is the London commuter suburb of St. Albans.  John has been working at a bank for 10 years and he's lonely.  He orders a mail-order bride from Russia through an online agency.  He waits at the airport but he doesn’t see her until he turns around from the arrival gate.  She is standing by herself observing him.  When he finds out she doesn’t speak any English, he tries to contact the agency to send her back but he gets no response.  Things start to get better until one of her cousins and his friend arrive to celebrate her birthday.  John doesn’t know how long they plan to stay but he’s had enough and asks them to leave.  This action starts a different ball rolling in an unexpected direction.
     Nicole Kidman looks different in this film with dark hair and a lot of black eye shadow.  This is a watch on DVD movie and not worth seeing in a theater if it was playing.  The plot stretches believability after the cousin and friend arrive.  There are many different ways this could have gone and you question the choices made as it unfolds?  3* (This movie is OK)

93 min, Drama directed by Jez Butterworth with Nicole Kidman, Vincent Cassel, Ben Chaplin, Mathieu Kassovitz, Kate Lynn Evans, Stephen Mangan, Alexander Armstrong, Sally Phillips.

Note:  Imdb 6.1 out of 10, 58% critic 40% audience on Rotten Tomatoes, Amazon 3.4* out of 5* with 98 reviews.
Special Note:  The budget of this film was $13 million and it grossed $16,171,098.  Kidman worked with someone at the Russian Embassy in Australia for help speaking Russian.  











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