Birthday Girl (2001)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Jez Butterworth

Writers:

Tom Butterworth (written by) &
Jez Butterworth (written by)

Release Date:

1 February 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Before They Share A Future, They Have To Survive Her Past.

Plot:

A thirtysomething bank clerk from St Albans has his small-town life exploded by the arrival of his Russian mail-order bride.

Plot Keywords:

Mail Order Bride | Internet | Russia | Black Bra | Bank Teller

Cast

Nicole Kidman	...	Sophia, alias Nadia
Ben Chaplin	...	John
Vincent Cassel	...	Alexei
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Yuri
Kate Lynn Evans	...	Clare (as Kate Evans)
Stephen Mangan	...	Bank Manager
Alexander Armstrong	...	Robert Moseley (as Xander Armstrong)
Sally Phillips	...	Karen
Jo McInnes	...	Waitress
Ben Miller	...	Concierge
Jonathan Aris	...	D.I. O'Fetiger
Katya Barton-Chapple	...	Young Sophia
Rebecca Clarke	...	Bank Colleague
Mark Gatiss	...	Porter
Raj Ghatak	...	Bank Colleague

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and language.

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 (re-rating) | Malaysia:18PL (uncut version) | Malaysia:U (cut version) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:12 | Peru:14 | Singapore:R(A) | South Korea:18 | Spain:13 | Switzerland:14 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:15 | USA:R | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Philippines:R-18 | Finland:K-15 | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

FilmFour

Trivia:

No actor in the movie actually speaks Russian, nor does the director.

Goofs:

Continuity: When John finds Nadia tied up in the hotel room (after her boyfriend has found out that she is pregnant), he unties her hands, but not her feet (which were tied up), there is a short fight between them, and it is seen that her feet are not tied anymore.

Quotes:

John: Excuse me. It's two Russians are staying here. Do you know which floor they're on?
Porter: Yes, I know which floor they're on.
John: [takes a banknote out of his pocket and holds it] And which floor would that be?
Porter: [taking the banknote] We've only got one floor.

Movie Connections:

References From Russia with Love (1963)

Soundtrack:

Even the Bad Times Are Good

A Cute Pleasure

The trailer for this movie didn't do the movie justice. And while the movie didn't know what it really wanted to get across, the first half of the movie being a light, romance comedy and the second have a more serious, romantic drama, the overall impact was much better than I thought it would be. This movie was more of a date movie, but the trailer made it into more of a suspense thriller which it never really turned out to be. Kidman, being one of my favorites, of course I'm biased, but this movie proved to be a light, sensitive, if somewhat quirky movie that deserved better. Three out of four stars. 9/5/02.