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MovieMantz Rantz: Defending Nicole Kidman
by Scott Mantz, Access movie guru
You never know when inspiration is gonna strike. Not 20 minutes ago, I glanced at my blackberry while trying to keep cool on a ridiculously hot Sunday afternoon, and I noticed an intense debate going on between my colleagues over the box office failure of Nicole Kidman's sci-fi thriller, The Invasion.
As if it wasn't hot enough outside, this unfair attack on Kidman made me boil. So I weighed in with my own perspective, and it helped me cool down (a bit)...
We interrupt this debate to bring you an important perspective...
Not fair to use the failure of The Invasion as a barometer of Kidman's popularity. It was plagued with problems that called for reshoots with a different director, and Warner Bros. didn't do anything to dispell the bad buzz when it dumped the film at summer's end without the usual fanfare of a junket and red carpet premiere.
That also gave many of the nation's critics something to pounce on. Too bad, since it's actually a decent movie. Yes, it has problems and feels a bit like a patch job, but it still works as a stylish, intense sci-fi thriller that actually has something to say.
That said, I do agree that Kidman has been cursed at the box office. The Interpreter did okay in the spring of 2005, but The Stepford Wives was a critically-reviled bomb in the summer of 2004.
Her one big chance at a box office hit could have come with Panic Room in 2002. If you recall, Kidman had to pass on the physically demanding role after the injury she suffered while filming Moulin Rouge. Jodie Foster took over, and the rest is history. (On a side note, Kidman also passed on the upcoming Foster thriller The Brave One, which is already getting good buzz in advance of its Toronto Film Festival premiere.)
Kidman's last good year at the box office was back in 2001, when she had the one-two punch of Moulin Rouge and The Others (her last film, if memory recalls, to gross more than 100 million domestically).
If I sound like I am defending Kidman, that's because I am. Regardless of her commercial success, she continues to challenge herself (and her audience) with eclectic roles in provocative, edgy films like Fur (wierd, but interesting), Birth (a GREAT movie), Dogville (controversial) and The Hours (for which she won an Oscar).
But if Kidman is after commercial acceptance, she may get it with this holiday season's fantasy, The Golden Compass. We'll just have to wait and see.
...we now return you to your regularly scheduled weekend!
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