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Birthday Girl Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 25 Reviews)

eventually derails, but fun while it lasts
I'll start out with saying that all of the actors have done better films than this one, and in comparison their acting here is rather disappointing, but that's more a fault of under-developed characters than lack of talent. The Birthday Girl seems to try for something darker than it actually becomes and it looks like all the actors are just moonlighting.

John (Chaplin), a lonely bank teller, orders a mail order bride (Kidman) from Russia, only to discover when she gets here that she doesn't speak a word of English and isn't what she seems. Mayhem ensues when two of her friends come for her birthday. And although the idea of a Russian mail order bride may seem like a great idea on paper, the execution of it in this film disappoints.

The first half of the film is quite entertaining, as Ben Chaplin proves to be quite adept at walking the fine line between black comedy and pathos. We like his character even if we're particularly impressed by him. The monotony of his life is portrayed humorously if not particularly inventively. But he and Kidman don't have the combustible chemistry that the film requires, you can see them as friends but not anything else. Still they have enough to keep the film going until it derails with the arrival of Vincent Cassel and mattieu kassovitz. Their characters are caricatures and serve very little narrative purpose but there they are ruining the second half of the film. Birthay Girl is mostly forgettable, except for perhaps the scenes at the bank where John works which are very funny.

*I gave this film 4 stars because of the robbie williams music video included, otherwise a 3/

We can all learn a lesson from this film?
I lauged a lot during the course of this film. Sure, it was not the same caliber as other Dark Comedies such as; American Beauty. However, I found Nichole Kidman's portrayal of Sophia, AKA: Nadia refreshing. Kidman always seems to have roles that showcase her allure, sensuality and raw sex appeal. Seeing a more comedic side of Kidman was very enjoyable. This film had impressed me because we have characters that may not be very sophisticated on one hand. However, let us focus on the positive things. A fairly beneign, mellow and mudane beginning resembling the beginning moments during of Joe Versus The Volcanoe fills the audience with a sense of hopelessness that succintly depicts, quite accurately I might add, the hopeless and plight of one of our main characters, John whom is not very extraordinary in any sense. A seemingly boring, routine and maybe even pathetic life in the day of John played by (Ben Chaplin) shows the audience a typical day in John's life, not unlike many people in our everyday life. Fighting the dull drums of John's boring career as a bank teller, boring home life with nothing extraordinary at all to speak of during the first minutes of the movie, introduce mail order bride: Nadia played by (Nichole Kidman). John's life quickly transforms into a life that is anything but boring. John whom was anything but exciting pulls off some hilarious antics during parts of the movie. In dealing with Kidman/Nadia's supposed Cousins whom arrive without warning to help celebrate her Birthday, Chaplin and Kidman manage to pull of some hillarious physical comedy during parts of the movie. Some of the facial expressions made by Kidman and Chaplin me laugh on their own merit. It is important to look at the qualities each actor or actress has brought to life in their character. Is this one of those classics that was overlooked at the boxoffice? Not likely. Is it potentially a cult classic? Possibly. Although the cast was well accomplised overall in previous and subsequent movies, this light hearted comedy with dark undertones was funny enough that I had watched it a second time. Why? Because albeit, not a performance that was so breathtaking and mindblowing overall that I became addicted to it like a narcotic drug, this movie showcases and highlights something that I think we have overlooked. Rather than outlandish, over exaggerated physical actions and skits, excessive violence or over emphasis of sophisticated, computer generated animation and special effects, a lighter, less sophisticated approach to comedy was achieved. Getting back to basics one might say. Sure, one can clamour for a more sophisticated plot, more thorough character developement, more of this or more of that. Bottom line, if you enjoy British style humor with darker undertones, you will enjoy "Birthday Girl". This was a refreshing change of pace when compared to our new wave crop of girl power comedies, action adventure movies relying upon gobs of computer generated special effects, reality TV series which I might add are overdone, as well. In this case, more is not better. Instead of over emphasizing many minute details to the point of being a busy collage of big things, shoddily connected together in a disjointed fashion, this movie highlights the simple concept of comedy, presented in a more basic form, presented in a tasteful and digestable format. Not too heavy, not too sophisticated or complex. My impression of comedies in the past is that they are not suppose to be so complex that one needs an expert diagnosis from stem to stern in order to enjoy the finished product. Birthday Girl has many issues and messages throughout the movie that could have sidetracked the audience and taken them into a direction that would have served little purpose except to maybe gratify the obsessive compulsive person's desire to neatly compartmentalize, categorize and label each individual for for further analysis. Use your imagination, relax, watch, laugh and enjoy the movie. Quite nit picking and get back to basics. Watch this movie and have a few laughs.

Thrilling, Humorous, and Fun
For the most part the story turns unexpectedly except for the obvious part that John and the woman would end up in liking each other in the end. I was thrilled and entertained by this movie. I find the main characers not only beautiful but also act very well. I see good sense of humor, romance, and thrill in it and find it well blended to make a good entertainment movie.

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