I thought I had seen this film already years ago, I certainly knew the leading actress, but I did in fact watch it for the first time, it was rated average, but I read about what it was about, I was willing to try it. Basically lonely bank clerk John Buckingham (Ben Chaplin) from St Albans, in southern Hertfordshire, England, orders a mail-order bride named Nadia (Nicole Kidman) from Russia on the Internet, she is pretty and friendly, but he unsatisfied when he realises she cannot speak any English. He tries calling the company he ordered her from constantly to send her back, he is uncomfortable and shy, but she is sexually bold, and he slowly forms a bond with her as she gives him sexual pleasure. Later on, trying to learn English words from a Russian to English dictionary he gives her, Nadia reveals it is her birthday, and later that day a man she introduces as her cousin Yuri (Amélie's Mathieu Kassovitz) and his friend Alexei (Black Swan's Vincent Cassel) arrive to celebrate the birthday with them. Alexei soon shows he has a temper, after a violent dispute he takes Nadia and holds her hostage, demanding a ransom from John, he does care for her and to get the money is forced to steal from the bank he has worked for ten years. After the ransom is paid, he realises that this was all a big con, Nadia, Yuro and Alexei are in cahoots and criminals, Alexei is actually Nadia's boyfriend, John learns that they have scammed other men the same way in Switzerland and Germany among others. The criminals take John prisoner, stripping him down to his underwear and tying him up to a motel toilet, he does manage to free himself, and he also finds Alexei has left Nadia behind after discovering that she is pregnant. John gets himself dressed and has a scrap with Nadia, but they eventually calm and sit together, it is then that she reveals in fact she could speak English all along, and her name is not Nadia, he plans to take her to the police to turn her in and clear his name for the bank robbery. However John sympathises with Nadia and decides against this, they go the airport where he leaves her for a short time, it is there that Alexei kidnaps her, he wants her to have the baby, but John rescues her, tying Alexei to a chair and also making sure Yuri is out of the way also. In the end Nadia is snuck through the airport security gates, with John using Alexei's passport to pose as him, getting away also with the thousands he stole in his coat pockets, Nadia suggests he should come with her back to Russia, calling it a long date, John eventually agrees, and she reveals her real name is Sophia. Also starring Kate Lynn Evans as Clare, Stephen Mangan as Bank Manager, Alexander Armstrong as Robert Moseley, Sally Phillips as Karen, Jo McInnes as Waitress, Mark Gatiss as Tim the Porter, Steve Pemberton as Duty Sergeant, Reece Shearsmith as Porter and Ben Miller as Concierge. Kidman gives a downbeat and interesting performance as the Russian mail-order bride, Chaplin does okay as the regular Brit pulled into a messed situation, Cassel is a good choice as the moody villain, and it is interesting to see many popular British comedians younger in the supporting cast. It is supposed to make you laugh this film, I maybe tittered in places, but it is much more about the crime aspect than anything, all the conning stuff almost overwhelms, I agree with critics that it suffers from genre identity crisis, but you can excuse it for having a bit of a love story you can follow, not a very funny film, but not a terrible romantic comedy crime drama. Worth watching!
Review of Birthday Girl
