The Good, The Fab, and The Ugly of Nicole Kidman

 

 

I wanted to do something a little different for LAMB Acting School this time around. So I came up with this. Here is a run down of the good, the fab, and the ugly of Nicole's impressive career.

 

The Good

 

 Nine

 

I have a soft spot for musicals, even if they aren't that great as a whole. Nicole has a wonderful voice.

 

The Interpreter

 

This is a movie that would've been completely forgettable if it were anyone other than Nicole Kidman playing the lead. I remember seeing this, extremely hung over the day after my senior prom. I wasn't expecting much, but I just found it so interesting.

 



Cold Mountain

 

Cold Mountain makes me laugh because I had the shittiest expectations ever going in to it. I had watched Matchstick Men, Mystic River, and Cold Creek Manor all in the same day a few months prior to this, and I was ready to lump this one together with them for no particular reason. I'm glad I went, while I think Renee Zellweger stole the show, I thought Nicole was nearly matching her punch for punch.

 

The Others

 

Despite guessing the ending about half way through the film, I still really enjoyed The Others. Of all the 'haunted house' movies there are, this is easily my favorite.

 



Birth

 

Birth is a very creepy film. It was borderline uncomfortable to watch at times. Nicole Kidman (and Cameron Bright) totally sold it though. I thought they were wonderful, and I think this is a film of Nicole's that gets overlooked quite a bit.

 

Happy Feet

 

 

Ok, this is kind of a cop out, but not really because Nicole Kidman DID provide her voice. It was a cute kids movie at the time, and everybody loves penguins.

 

The Fab
 

Moulin Rouge!

 

I freaking LOVE Moulin Rouge! Everything about it. The songs, the costumes, Nicole's gorgeous red hair. This is just a feel good movie and Nicole's performance is nothing short of brilliant.
 

Rabbit Hole

 

Nicole made me want to cry, and cry, and cry in Rabbit Hole. She was so convincing in playing a mother who had lost her child. You could feel her grief through the screen. I remember waiting for the Oscar nominations to be announced and being prepared to throw a gigantic viral bitch fit if she didn't get her well deserved nom. Thankfully she did.

 

The Hours

 

Nicole was nearly unrecognizable in this film film that won her an Oscar. When I first saw this, I was expecting Meryl Streep to kind of take over the film and Nicole stole the show. That really puts it into a unique prospective. It's hard to better Meryl Streep. (and in this case Julianne Moore and Ed Harris) I'm not trying to make it sound like it was a competition, it's just that Nicole stood out as the best among this wonderful cast. 

Fur

 

I'm not quite sure why Fur tends to fly under the radar when both Nicole and Robert Downey Jr were both so good. Admittedly, I waited far to long to see this as well. It's a wonderful gem of a film.

 

Margot At The Wedding

 

When my friend and I went to see this in theaters, she HATED it. I mean seriously hated it. I was expecting her to storm the projector booth and light the damn thing on fire. I tried to explain that Nicole Kidman was actually really wonderful despite the rest of the movie being on the boring side. I finally got her to agree with me years later.

 

The Ugly
 

Dogville

 

It's no secret that I despise Lars Von Trier movies. I hate myself even more for the countless times I've tried to enjoy his films. I figured this one can't be that bad. I mean, Nicole, Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgard. Wrong, this movie was horrible and *SPOILER ALERT* I was glad when most of them died at the end.

 

The Stepford Wives

 

Cue the 'Nicole Kidman's face looks frozen in botox' rants, right? This movie did her no favors. I place most of the blame on Matthew Broderick being a completely inept actor.

 

Australia

 

The main problem with Australia to me was that it didn't feel like one movie. It felt like one really bad ranch movie and one mediocre WWII movie. There was no marrying them together so to speak. Kidman and Hugh Jackman did have good chemistry though, the same cannot be said for my next pick..

 

Betwitched

 

Nicole and Will Ferrell has zero chemistry in this remake of the classic (and in my opinion, lame) TV series. None. Zilch. Nada. What the hell were these two people doing in a movie together? I think they could probably pull it off now, with Ferrell having some dramatic turns under his belt, but at this time, it was horrible.
 

Eyes Wide Shut

 

This may not be a popular choice here, but I hated Eyes Wide Shut. It's not Nicole's fault, in fact, she's the best thing about it by far. This is the only film I can think of where the score actually drove me nuts. Despite Nicole and Tom Cruise being married, their chemistry felt weird and forced in all of the movies they were in together. Maybe it's because my perception of Tom Cruise is a little off, and I'm not the biggest Kubrick fan around, but this movie just did nothing for me.