Nicole Kidman is on a reconnaissance mission--to rescue her own career. With both the noisy, hysterical, over-the-top faux musical Moulin Rouge and the serenely haunting The Others still jockeying for Oscar position, the freshly liberated ex-Mrs. Tom Cruise takes a dramatic left turn with yet another new film, Birthday Girl. She was woefully miscast as a tubercular, dreamy-eyed temptress who couldn't sing or dance in Moulin Rouge, but her tough, enigmatic, street-smart character in Birthday Girl has both feet solidly grounded. She's full of surprises, and so is the movie.

Witty and slick, this second feature by British director Jez (Mojo) Butterworth is a deceptively clever romantic comedy that is also part caper, part thriller and a perfect vehicle for both Ms. Kidman and her talented co-star, Ben Chaplin. He plays John Buckingham, a dull, nerdy bank clerk for whom every day is Monday. Lonely and desperately unlucky in love, John swallows his pride and surfs the Web for a Russian mail-order bride. She's Nicole Kidman--a pale, chain-smoking goth who doesn't speak a word of English. He takes her home, but it's a disaster.

While his emergency calls to the Internet agency that set them up go unanswered, Nadia rifles through his apartment and finds his porno tapes, seductively fulfilling his secret sexual fantasies. But domestic bliss is shattered by the arrival of Nadia's two male "cousins," who show up unannounced to celebrate her birthday. They turn violent, demand money and threaten to kill her. Naive but honorable, John robs his own bank to save her life, innocently unaware that Nadia is part of the gang.

John is just the latest victim in a string of gullible men they've robbed. John's life is turned upside-down, but this movie is just getting started. The gang breaks up and John's rage turns to pity for the broke, abandoned and pregnant Nadia. With the police in hot pursuit, the mild-mannered nerd has to track down the thugs, rescue the girl, recover the stolen money, and restore his dignity and reputation. But if you think movies still separate the good guys from the villains in time for a happy resolution, you have amnesia. Nothing ends the way you expect it to in Birthday Girl, and the biggest shock of all is yet to come. Whatever else you might think, you can't label it predictable.

As the dour, repressed and anally retentive John, Mr. Chaplin creates a memorable portrait of a perfect Mr. Nice Guy, surprising even himself with the kind of doughy bravado he must summon to save the day and get the girl. Ms. Kidman is gorgeous even with black, stringy hair and a wardrobe so ugly Courtney Love wouldn't wear it on a dare in broad daylight. She's also sexually fearless, and her Russian is flawless. Vincent Cassel and Mathieu Kassovitz, as the scruffy Soviet dudes who keep the action moving, lend powerful support. Not a great movie, but a quirky, agreeable and most entertaining one that further validates my faith in Nicole Kidman as that rarest of film creations--an actress of great beauty and startling versatility who is unafraid to take risks, never rests on her laurels, and strives to be more than just another pretty face.
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