Kidman versatility takes the cake in ‘Birthday Girl’

In theaters

BIRTHDAY GIRL. Directed by Jez Butterworth. Written by Tom and Jez Butterworth. 93 minutes. Rated R.

With the release of her new movie, “Birthday Girl,” Nicole Kidman not only proves she’s one of the best, most versatile actresses working today, but that her star power is greater than ever.

“Birthday Girl” was shot in 1999, but after being pulled from its original September 2000 release due to poor test screenings, a nervous Miramax blew out the candles and shelved the movie – not exactly a show of support.

But now that everyone is wild for Kidman after her terrific performances in “Moulin Rouge” and “The Others,” Miramax, recognizing its opportunity to strike, shrewdly dusted the film off and released it into the sea of good will.

They shouldn’t have worried. “Birthday Girl” may not be as good as “Rouge” or “The Others,” but it’s also far and away from the dreck of “Far and Away,” “Days of Thunder” and “Practical Magic,” Kidman’s worst films.

What it does so beautifully is showcase Kidman’s incredible range and her willingness to take risks. Is there a more daring, high-profile actress working today?

What’s better for Kidman is how Miramax’s timidity has paid off for her career. The actress is one of the front-runners for this year’s Academy Award for Best Actress. Her performance in “Birthday Girl,” which demands that she speak mostly in Russian, should remind voters just how good she is.

In the film, Kidman is Nadia, a chain-smoking Russian who flies to London to marry John (Ben Chaplin), a lonely bank clerk who purchased her from the sleazy mail-order-bride Web site, “From Russia With Love.”

When Nadia arrives, she’s not exactly the woman John was expecting. With her black-rimmed eyes, pasty skin and cheap-looking hooker apparel, she barely speaks a word of English and is so ill, she vomits.

Alarmed, John tries to return her. But as the days pass and Nadia’s health improves, she wins him over with her substantial charms, including her willingness to tolerate the ants overrunning his house while also humoring him with his rampant bondage fetish.

What looks like the start of a quirky romance becomes something altogether different when Nadia’s two “cousins” – Yuri (Vincent Cassel) and Alexei (Mathieu Kassovitz) – arrive on John’s doorstep with all the force of two exploding Molotov cocktails. They cause all sorts of trouble, quickly turning this film on its side in ways that can’t be revealed here.

Directed by Jez Butterworth from a script he co-wrote with his brother, Tom, “Birthday Girl” is hardly for everyone, but for those seeking a kinky black comedy filled with good performances, some big laughs and, in the end, a few violent twists, it delivers better than you might expect.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

PLACE VENDOME. Directed by Nicole Garcia. Written by Garcia and Jacques Fieschi. 117 minutes. No rating. In French with English subtitles.

Nicole Garcia’s seductive film, “Place Vendome,” stars Catherine Deneuve as Marianne Malivert, a gorgeous, troubled woman of a certain age who finds herself caught in the throes of an international diamond intrigue.

The film, which is so stylish and sophisticated it seems tailor-made for Deneuve, is elevated by her performance as well as her presence. Indeed, after 37 years as an actress, Deneuve has become that rare pop-culture gem – a screen legend whose beauty and glamour have become so iconic, they’re as captivating as anything playing out on screen.

In the film, Marianne, a drunk who’s lost her enthusiasm for life, is startled into sobriety after the family diamond empire hits the skids, her husband, Vincent (Bernard Fresson), takes his life, and a number of Russian Mafiosi move in from all corners of Place Vendome, the famous Parisian square where much of the film takes place, to stake their claim on the diamonds Vincent stole.

But Marianne, who knows nothing of Vincent’s theft because, frankly, she’s been too soused for too long to notice, is forced to piece together facts that eventually lead to a number of revelations, reawakenings, surprise reunions – and, if Marianne has the courage to see it through – perhaps even her own rebirth as she rediscovers her gifts for brokering jewels.

Midway through the film, there’s a line that’s meant to encapsulate the essence of Deneuve’s character, but I think the comment is really Garcia’s attempt to try to pinpoint Deneuve’s own screen appeal: “It’s not that she’s gullible, but that she’s malleable.”

For a woman who has struck envy in so many women and lust in so many men, those words may be an oversimplification of Catherine Deneuve’s appeal, but they do help to explain the root of it.

Grade: A-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.