Birthday Girl (2001)

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:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Sophia lights a cigarette with a disposable lighter in the car as they leave the airport, but the sound is of the lid of a Zippo being flipped open.

Quotes:

John: I'll give you a tune later.

Movie Connections:

References Gran Turismo (1998) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Memory

A good premise, but the overall film is just so-so...

John (Ben Chaplin) is a hapless bachelor in St. Albans, looking for love in all the wrong places. So he goes online and orders a Russian mail-order bride. She arrives in the form of Nicole Kidman. Although her background is questionable and her English is fragmented, she's great in bed, so he has no complaints.

However when her "cousins" appear at his door a whole new world of deception and violence opens up for John, pulling him deeper and deeper under.

The premise for the film is fairly good, but the overall execution is just so-so. Nicole Kidman gives a really good performance (worthy of a better film) but Ben Chaplin is just OK. He slaps her around a bit, which is about as daring as his character manages to be. Anyone could play the role, so he's kind of stuck in a rut.

The movie is grungy, dark and feels independent - it's hard to imagine Hollywood royalty Nicole Kidman signing onto it, but she is really the reason this film remains interesting and engaging. Without her, I don't think I would have bothered to sit through all of it.