Grade: B

Verdict: Nicole Kidman makes it a party worth attending.

Details: Starring Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin. Directed by Jez Butterworth. Rated R for sex, language and mild violence. 1 hour, 33 minutes.

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Review: Released in the one-two aftermath of "Moulin Rouge" and "The Others," the slight but decidedly likable "Birthday Girl" gives Nicole Kidman another chance to strut her considerable stuff.

She plays Nadia, a Russian mail-order bride bought over the Internet by John (Ben Chaplin), a repressed Londoner with a boring bank job and an even more boring - say, nonexistent? - social life.

"Birthday Girl's" kick is in its details more than its overall plot. Director/co-writer Jez Butterworth tosses in all kinds of small but hilarious jokes. The name of the dating service, for instance, is "From Russia With Love."

Chaplin, who's been on the verge of a Hollywood breakthrough ever since "Washington Square"(1997) and "Lost Souls"(2000) does awfully well as the put-upon hero forced to find inner resources he didn't know he had. Still, the hook here is Kidman. Totally different from her "Moulin Rouge" temptress or her uptight mother in "The Others," her Nadia is a kind of dime-store seductress, with long lank hair and long lovely legs. She's cunning yet vulnerable, and it's hard not to root for her and John's embattled relationship.

For Kidman, "Birthday Girl" is almost like a rest stop, a break from her recent high-profile roles. She's obviously having fun flexing her acting muscles. Chances are, you'll have fun watching her.

— Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution