Variety by Deborah Young

Charmingly setting aside glamour for a turn at pure acting, Nicole Kidman zings up the already zingy script of Birthday Girl.

The A.V. Club by Keith Phipps

Nicole Kidman -- continuing the string of remarkable performances that have followed "Eyes Wide Shut" -- finds plenty of fodder in the long-delayed Birthday Girl. A grimy thriller with a wicked streak of humor.

Village Voice by Mark Holcomb

It may not be particularly innovative, but the film's crisp, unaffected style and air of gentle longing make it unexpectedly rewarding.

New York Daily News by Jack Mathews

It's a slight, old-fashioned B movie, the last thing you would expect from an actress coming off a breakout year, but it has a charm and freshness we don't see much these days.

San Francisco Chronicle by Mick LaSalle

Black comedies are rare enough. Birthday Girl is a member of an even rarer species, the black romantic comedy.

USA Today by Mike Clark

The actress may get an Oscar nomination for the wrong movie -- "Moulin Rouge" over "The Others" -- but it would be a double misfortune for audiences to overlook a performance that boosts its movie from moderate to memorable.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen

Rare is the movie that arrives without fanfare -- that sneaks between the cracks, pops up relatively unheralded on the big screen, and takes the viewer by delighted surprise. Well, check the moon for blue because Birthday Girl is just such a picture.

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Butterworth guides us through the world of chaos and romantic confusion he's created as if it's the most natural place in the world. After a while, we actually believe it is.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

Keep your eye on Kidman, whose kinky, kittenish performance turns unexpected emotional corners that pull you up short.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Ellen A. Kim

The good news is that Kidman's the best thing in this rather subdued film: sexy, coy and even a bit funny. The bad news is that the movie itself is unlikely to register very long on anyone's radar.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

The romantic comedy doesn't have much, but it has Kidman.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

A paper-thin wish-fulfillment comedy about escaping small-town repressions and blasting conformity.

Boston Globe by Loren King

This bizarre, uneven comedy is notable mostly for the unsettling presence of Nicole Kidman in full, kinky, sex-kitten mode.

Film Threat by Tim Merrill

Starts out as a first-rate chick movie and winds up a second-rate guy movie. But if this somehow proves to be a formula for the perfect date movie, then Kidman is even more brilliant than we thought.

New York Magazine (Vulture) by Peter Rainer

The film's Russians are all played by French and Australian actors. Too bad Butterworth didn't find a Russian to play the Brit. That would have made the inauthenticity complete.