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Birthday Girl | 2002 | R | - 6.5.5
Nicole Kidman stars as a Russian woman whose marriage to an English banker (Ben Chaplin) has been arranged over the Internet. However, this e-mail order bride is not as innocent as she seems and there's more to the arrangement than the banker suspects. Soon he finds himself in grave danger. Also with Vincent Cassel, Mathieu Kassovitz and Valentina Cervi. [1:33]
SEX/NUDITY 6 - A woman pushes a man back onto a bed and climbs on top of him kissing his chest and thrusting rhythmically. A woman goes into a man's bedroom where he is sleeping, he gets out of bed, she approaches him, puts his hand on her breast and proceeds to (below screen) reach into his pants -- we see his gratified face. A woman sits on a man's lap and they kiss on several occasions and we see their bare shoulders. A man and woman kiss and roll around on a bed. A man and woman kiss passionately, and a man and woman kiss romantically. A woman is tied to a bed by a man and we see her bare buttock. A woman wraps a necktie around her wrists and looks at a man suggestively. A woman pokes a bare chested man with knitting needles and drags them down his chest (he appears to be aroused). A man throws a woman back on a bed, gets on top of her and begins taking off his clothes (it is suggested that he plans to force sex on her but he doesn't). A nude woman gets out of bed and we see her back and buttocks. A woman lies on a bed in her underwear (we see her bare back). A man and woman sleep covered by sheets. A woman showers and we see her bare shoulders, a man is in a bathtub and we see his bare shoulders, chest and leg, and a woman washes in a stream and we see her bare legs from a distance. A man, peering into a window sees a man in his underwear. A man in his jockey shorts is tied to a bidet. A woman wears outfits that reveal her legs, cleavage and bare abdomen throughout the movie. We see a collection of pornographic movies and magazines and a woman flips through the pages and watches a video (the video shows a woman tied to a bed and we hear a whip crack). A series of women comment on what they are looking for in a man and there are a few sexual references. We see a man zipping up his trousers after having urinated in a urinal.
VIOLENCE/GORE 5 - A man waves a knife at two men and a woman who are tied up; one of the tied men has bloody hands, the other is punched and shoved, and the woman is threatened with the knife to her neck and a pot of boiling water held over her head. A man punches another man in the face, and a man hits another man on the head with a guitar and knocks him out. A woman is abused in several scenes; she's slapped in the face, tossed off a bed (she ends up with a bloody lip), grabbed, shoved, knocked down, and her face is squeezed hard. A man and woman fight with slaps and kicks and the woman knees the man in the crotch. A man is thrown to the floor, he bumps his head and seems unconscious for a moment. A man holds a woman under water and she comes up yelling and gasping. A man is threatened with a knife to his throat. A woman is tied to a radiator. A man is tied to a bidet and when he gets free, we see rope burns on his back. A man drives his car into a parked motorcycle. A woman vomits out a car window and again on the side of the road (we see some of the debris on grass) and hear her heaving. A woman has bruises and cuts on her wrists and arms. A dead rabbit hangs from a ceiling (it appears to be hanging in preparation for consumption). Three people fall back hard onto the floor.
LANGUAGE 5 - 8 F-words, 3 scatological terms, 5 religious exclamations, 5 mild obscenities, (some of the obscene terms are in Russian and are translated into English subtitles).
SUBSTANCE USE - Several characters are shown smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Mail order and e-mail order brides, arranged marriages, Russia, secrets, lying, con artists.
MESSAGE - Sudden intimacy with someone you don't really know is hazardous.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
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We welcome suggestions & criticisms -- and we will accept compliments too. While we read all emails & try to reply we do not always manage to do so; be assured that we will not share your e-mail address.