Birthday Girl on DVD

Nicole Kidman is outstanding as a Russian girl who brings a lot more to the table than her British mail order husband expected.

She’s Nadia, who had posted her vital information on the Internet, hoping to snag a foreign husband and begin a new life in a new land. Or that’s how it appears to John (Ben Chaplin), a mild mannered bank clerk looking for the girl of his dreams.

The movie is actually John’s story, from the time he “places his order” and picks up Nadia at the airport. Much to his chagrin, she speaks not a word of English and this communications gap is a major obstacle to overcome. John begins to have major misgivings, but the woman is just so attractive, so apparently sweet, and she’s definitely eager to please and to even help him act out his wildest fantasies.

Then two of her friends show up and the movie upshifts into a caper/heist flick where John’s life is turned completely upside down and he ends up as a fugitive from justice.

Birthday Girl is an interesting, if offbeat, film that features excellent performances from Kidman (who puts on what appears to be a bang on Russian accent) and Chaplin, as well as supporting “Russkies” Mathieu Kassovitz and Vincent Cassel (who are actually French and also pull of excellent Russian characterizations).

It’s a tale that keeps the audience guessing what exactly is going on for a good part of its 90 minute or so running time, and even when it slows down (not that it rockets along at any time) there’s enough going on to keep you interested. And you really do care for what happens to John, so you tend to root for him even when it looks like he’s about to do something really stupid.

You even end up rooting for “Nadia” despite the more poisonous aspects of her character.

The DVD is pretty good, too. The anamorphic widescreen picture, 16x9 TV compatible, is bright and clean and looks very good. Audio, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround is also very good, though there isn’t much surround in evidence. That isn’t always a bad thing, though; much as we love a good “get you in the middle of it” audio experience it isn’t always appropriate or necessary, and this is one of those times.

Extras include a “Somethin’ Stupid” music video and an six minute behind the scenes feature that’s pretty interesting (we hadn’t dreamed, for instance, that the film was made in Australia, Kidman’s presence notwithstanding). There are also some sneak peeks of other Miramax flicks.

In all, a surprisingly intriguing film.

Birthday Girl, from Alliance Atlantis Home Video
90 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Mathieu Kassovitz, Vincent Cassel
Produced by Eric Abraham, Steve Butterworth, Diana Phillips
Written by Jez Butterworth and Tom Butterworth, Directed by Jez Butterworth

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