April 26, 2007
uneven - uninteresting - unessential
Nicole Kidman,
Ben Chaplin,
Vincent Cassel,
Mathieu Kassovitz,
Kate Evans
... see more 
A man looking for love gets more than he bargained for when he chooses his prospective wife on the internet in this dark comedy. The manager of a bank in a small British community (Ben Chaplin) decide... read more
Directed by: Jez Butterworth
Release Date: February 1, 2002
Keywords:
nicole kidman,
ben chaplin,
mail order,
russian mail,
Nicole Kidman ,
Ben Chaplin ,
Birthday Girl
DVD Release Date: August 13, 2002
Stats: 613 reviews
Your Rating
Flixster Reviews (613)
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October 6, 2011It's not a good movie but it was okay to watch. Ben Chaplin is good...Vincent Cassel is good. And Nicole Kidman's russian sound like an asian speaking russian. I wouldn't recomend it. But it's not bad or boring.
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April 5, 2011A fun, off beat sleeper of a movie. Nicole Kidman is good in this one, and Ben Chaplin does his usual great job. It was not what I was expecting, and I was actually surprised that I liked it as much as I did (especially since there are many people that gave it 1 or 2 stars..??). ... read more
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November 12, 2010For the first forty-five minutes of this film, I liked it better when it was called Derailed. At least that had Clive Owen in it. The second forty-five minutes did little to further develop the characters, and there weren't any compelling suspense/action sequence that ade... read more
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June 19, 2010Obviously a low budget British film, that wouldn?t usually attract the likes of Vincent Cassel and Nicole Kidman.
Slow moving and very dry humoured, ?Birthday Girl? is probably not quite the film you?d expect it to turn out to be.
Bizarrely, there were claims that Cassel le... read more -
June 5, 2010A quirky English film a mix of black comedy and drama. It has a few funny moments, a bit more action and twists towards the end. Nicole kidman sheds hers clothes again as a Russian mail order bride who doesn't speak English. However all is not as it appears. Far from a classic bu... read more
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February 16, 2010What to say about this movie. A plus - it stars Nicole Kidman with very few clothes. It is pretty strange - an Australian playing a Russian who speaks English, but pretends not to. A negative - I don't think it is one of Nicole's best movies. A nerdy guy orders a Russian non-... read more
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April 24, 2009it wasnt bad, and had a great twist at the end really so it is worth a watch
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January 19, 2009I thought this film was sort of romantic in a dysfunctional way...It was a different role for Nicole Kidman, I wasn't used to seeing her with dark hair and a little messed up.
It's about this loney guy who works a lot and decides to order a Russian bride, which happens to be ... read more
Critic Reviews
April 8, 2002
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter
March 13, 2002
Rex Reed, New York Observer
A deceptively clever romantic comedy that is also part caper, part thriller and a perfect vehicle for both Ms. Kidman and her talented co-star, Ben Chaplin.
March 13, 2002
Andrew Sarris, New York Observer
As I watched the film struggle with all its switches and turnabouts, I wondered why it wasn't funnier, more charming or more exciting.
February 16, 2002
Stephen Hunter, Washington Post
It's all over the road -- sometimes farce, sometimes horror, sometimes thriller, sometimes police procedural. And the truth is, no one in it is particularly sympathetic. Full Review
February 5, 2002
Mark Holcomb, Village Voice
It may not be particularly innovative, but the film's crisp, unaffected style and air of gentle longing make it unexpectedly rewarding. Full Review
February 4, 2002
Susan Stark, Detroit News
The cinematic equivalent of a wink and a smile. It's a pleasure to watch as just that.
February 4, 2002
Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
Nicole Kidman was on a roll with Moulin Rouge and The Others, and that roll has come to a screeching halt. Full Review
February 2, 2002
Entertainment Weekly
An effortfully decorated romantic caper in which Ben Chaplin, as the shy hero, mats his hair down with Loser Gel and stares inertly to convey his dilemma about whether to stay good or live it up bad. Full Review
February 1, 2002
Mike Clark, USA Today
Nicole Kidman evolved from star to superstar some time over the past year, which means that Birthday Girl is the kind of quirkily appealing minor movie she might not make for a while. Full Review
February 1, 2002
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
Kidman is really the only thing that's worth watching in Birthday Girl, a film by the stage-trained Jez Butterworth (Mojo) that serves as yet another example of the sad decline of British comedies in ... Full Review
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Birthday Girl
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