"It leaves little doubt that Kidman has become one of our best actors." Jeremy Heilman MOVIEMARTYR.COM

"There's a wickedly subversive bent to the best parts of Birthday Girl." Sean Burns PHILADELPHIA WEEKLY

Insight

"Ok, when you think about it, England is just a small island. I mean, I know that gives you about 20 million girls to choose from - but if you live in a small town and work long hours, you're just not going to get a chance to meet them all." John BIRTHDAY GIRL

Regular cinema-goers will find "Birthday Girl" a film full of familiar faces, faces of actors who have recently appeared in some wonderful films. The advertising credits therefore would incite a lot of interest in a film many would have heard little about prior to it's release. Leading the cast is the whimsical Nicole Kidman [the former Mrs Tom Cruise] now a recognised star in her own right [hell, I always thought she was a star from those days of "Far and Away" and "Dead Calm"] fresh from the success of "Moulin Rouge" and "The Others". Ms Kidman is joined in the lead by Ben Chaplin, that enigmatic British actor best know for his roles in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs" and "The Thin Red Line". There's Mathieu Kassovitz, recently seen on Australian cinema screens in that charming film "Amelie" and who directed my favourite murder mystery thriller "The Crimson Rivers". Last of the quartet is Vincent Cassel the acclaimed French actor. Cassel also has a "Crimson Rivers" connection appearing in that film as well as Gilles Mimouni's "L'Appartement". Cassel will hopefully soon be seen in the "Brotherhood of Wolves" and along side Willem Dafoe in "The Reckoning". The theme for "Birthday Girl" revolves around the world wide boom in mail order brides, particularly those from Russia. Directed, writen and Produced by Britians Butterworth Brothers this film, while fairly entertaining suffers from films dreaded black hole syndrome. That is, it goes well until its starts to fall into the proverbial pit ["the" hole] and although it does manage to drag itself out of it towards the end, "Birthday Girl" never quite grabs you with the infectious feeling it evokes early in the film. "Birthday Girl" does have a happy ending though and yes, all those Kidman knockers please note, Nicole is just great as "Nadia". The Story

"Where does it say you have to meet the love of your life in the supermarket?"

"Don't tell me ... it's so cold in Russia, you have to go to England and shag people to keep warm?"

John Buckingham [Ben Chaplin] leads a pitifull, dull, boring life. Single, working in the local bank branch and working long hours leaves little time to find the ideal companion. Thanks to the internet and a site called "From Russia With Love" John's life is about to change thanks to a Russian mail order bride named Nadia [Nicole Kidman]. But Nadia doesn't quite meet the standards John stipulated in his order. For a start she doesn't speak English, she smokes like a chimney and she vomits a lot. He wants her sent back. That is until she discovers John's stash of pornography featuring a Bondage theme. Nadia now goes to work on John using her charm and body to change his mind. Just as it all looks to be going well, two unannounced visitors arrive, Nadia's russian cousins. Everything is about to take a turn for the worse and John will find out the horrible truth about Nadia, Yuri and Alexi. Can true love, which conquers all, come to John and Nadia's rescue? The Verdict "Nicole Kidman is loveable, beautiful and suitabley adept as Nadia, the russian mail order bride in the comedy "Birthday Girl", a film which does remarkabley well until it tries to get too serious and forgets it's meant to be a comedy and a romantic thriller. Never the less "Birthday Girl" is worth a good look at if only for the opportunity of seeing the wonderful Ms Kidman at work. It's a fairly entertaining romp that never quite gets a gallop up." What The Critics Say

"Who are you?" "We're Russians!"

"Banking asks a great deal of the individual. It says "Here's all the money. Don't ... steal it."

"Terrific as Nadia, a Russian mail-order bride who comes to America speaking not a word of English, it’s Kidman who holds the film together with a supremely kittenish performance that gradually accumulates more layers." Bryant Frazer BRYANT FRAZER'S DEEP FOCUS "Smart but slight." Todd Anthony SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL "A deviant topical comedy which is funny from start to finish." Matt Arnoldi BBC NEWS "The script is smart and dark - hallelujah for small favors." Jeanne Aufmuth PALO ALTO WEEKLY "A modest and acerbically clever escapade that relies more on wit than excitement." Rob Blackwelder SPLICEDWIRE "It may not be particularly innovative, but the film's crisp, unaffected style and air of gentle longing make it unexpectedly rewarding." Mark Holcomb VILLAGE VOICE

The Cast

	Nicole Kidman Ben Chaplin Vincent Cassel Mathieu Kassovitz Kate Lynn Evans Stephen Mangan Alexander Armstrong Sally Phillips Jo McInnes Ben Miller Jonathan Aris Katya Barton-Chapple Rebecca Clarke Mark Gatiss Raj Ghatak David Mark Jack Pierce Alan Stocks	... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...		Nadia/Sophia John Alexei Yuri Clare Bank Manager Robert Moseley Karen Waitress Concierge DI O'Fetiger Young Sophia Bank Colleague Porter Bank Colleague Bank Colleague Bank Colleague Passport Official

Directed by Jez Butterworth Writen by Tom Butterworth & Jez Butterworth Rated [AUST] M15+ Run Time 93 minutes Copyright ©2002 - Miramax Films - All Rights Reserved Copyright©2002 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved