Before getting into this, I have to admit my bias: I don’t like Nicole Kidman. However, the concept of Birthday Girl piqued my interest (a man’s mail order Russian bride hides some devious secrets and destroys his world), and I thought that my aversion to Kidman would elevate the creep factor. The first act works well. A lonely loser selects a mate through the internet. The girl arrives and is physically desirable, but somehow not quite right. The light mood of their awkward courtship would be the perfect set-up for a contrasting, dark climax, such as in Something Wild. But unlike Something Wild’s terrifying baddie Ray Liotta, the culprits of Birthday Girl are silly dunces. The awful, life-wrecking repercussions of inviting a stranger into one’s life are depicted in a jarring mix of tragedy and slap-stick. The film wants to be both a psychological drama and goofy romance, and gave me a headache. I’ll know not to trust that dangerous beauty again.

There are no comments yet. You could be the first!