Birthday Girl

Ben Chaplin makes Orlando Bloom seem polarizing. There were a couple of scenes where I couldn't understand why he was wearing camouflage only to realize that he isn't, he's just that bland. This story is a little ludicrous but there's a great undercurrent of strong humor that made it a breezy watch. Note to my friend that mentioned the DVD case containing no less than three "SEXY" quotes when the movie is a fairly tame sex comedy. It's no Dogville or Rabbit Hole or The Human Stain or ....

Having given this a second watch, I jacked up my previous score up by 2 points, but still the overall impression remains the same - Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin, while quite decent in their respective roles, have no chemistry between them at all. Other than that, a nice movie, with a couple of unexpected twist and turns.

Nicely made movie with a good performance by Kidman. Novel story that has multiple surprises.

#16#, rw4, gp-fav, Nicole.K!/10a5, rewatch(3) }**{ #00s(e)#, story, Nicole.K!

Its a shame for Kidman, who put in a brilliant performance as a Russian mail order bride, that she was saddled with this lame, plodding, predictable, grossly oversold "comedy-thriller" screenplay and a leading man who, whilst quirkily likeable, entirely lacked any sort of personality. That's not to say the film doesn't have its merits, because there are a couple of really funny moments and Kidman is truly wonderful to watch, but overall, this is nothing more than a rom-com with a slight "edge".

A weird and at times surprisingly good film. However, despite Kidman being Russian, shipping and good ending, this films not objectively good. At times this movie bounces between romance, comedy, action and suspense, and begs the question "Am I meant to laugh, cry or be edge of my seat?"

I would not call this a thrill, mostly because it was hardly thrilling. While Chaplin and Kidman both put good work into this strange little indy-pic, the story was so bizarre and the convoluted I just wanted it to be over.

There's a pleasing luridness to this thriller. utterworth sets up his various plot details with care, but avoids the common trap of becoming too robotic about it. Everything proceeds with just the right dash of wit, even little laps of satire. It's not necessarily difficult to see where all this is going to go, but it's fun watching it get there. It loses some of that electricity as it proceeds, eventually petering down as it seems to run out of ideas, loosing its hold on logic in the process.

I watched this to see Kidman as Russian mail-order bride.

Nice performance by Kidman as a very sexy Russian mail-order Bride--with strings attached. The plot is decent, with a few interesting twists, but it falls down a little toward the end.

Só vale conferir pela gostosa da Nicole Kidman...

Amusing at first, then unexpectedly dark; either way, the story is unbelievable -- and unsatisfying.

worth a watch

Endearing, confusing and ultimately borderline heart-breaking. A good film once or twice around, beyond that the plot begins to fall apart. This movie relies more on emotion than a solid plot and if you can feel what the characters are feeling, you will like this movie. If you have a hard time relating to characters on that big, silver screen, this may not be the movie for you. B-

ok

Some good performances, but falls into predictability in the second half.

A few laughs.

Is this from 2001? Same time as Moulin Rouge and The Others?

Dark and edgy, kinda weird and twisted.