SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

michaeltrivedi Now Birth is an interesting picture. After watching Dogville and To Die For (And of course Eyes Wide Shut being my favorite movie), I have been very interested in seeing Kidman pictures. She has a way about her that calls for attention, and yet you are well aware of the others in the room. It's almost annoying, but it does the job, and it does it very well.This story is about Nicole Kidman's character discovering her dead husband may be a little boy resurrected. What got me from the beginning was her new husband, who mentions at the beginning that he had to chase her to get her to marry him. He kept calling and asking for date, and eventually it just clicked. And at the very end, the same theme applies on their wedding date: She is more hesitant, and he is pulling her close.That is the main emotion I received from the story, and everything in between was very captivating, but holds nothing in the aftermath. Once you learn the child has made the whole story up, the whole premise becomes pointless except for the fact mentioned in the previous statement.6 STARS! May deserve less

Manhattan William I went to opening night of BIRTH many years ago now, and while I liked it VERY much, I realize now that I didn't fully understand it after the first viewing. This is a movie that speaks to me about TRUE LOVE, love that never dies, mourning someone you've lost that you cannot ever get over. Such is the character of Anna, played by Kidman with tremendous sensitivity and grace. This film in fact moves me more and more each time I view it. Aside from the film, the musical score is breathtaking (and heartbreaking). There is something about this film that just.....if I had to recommend ONE film that is wholly underrated and that deserves to be viewed, it's BIRTH. Note: A gentle/tender heart may be required for full satisfaction and understanding.

iLIVEunderTHEbridge Birth gets my vote for most preposterous film ever created. There is a reason why most people have never heard of this movie. Imagine combining Disney's Freaky Friday (Lindsay Lohan) with Big (Tom Hanks), changing a couple plot elements, and having Ed Wood direct it. In a nutshell, that's what Birth is. I almost think that the writers, producers, and director made a bet to see if they could shoot this film and actually have people believe it is serious.Birth is essentially a pseudo character study with the two main characters being a 30+ year old woman and a ten-year old boy. It's the "grown adult in a kid's body" story that you normally expect to see in your typical light-hearted comedy film. But in Birth, it's changed up to take itself COMPLETELY seriously and rated R (for adult content in the U.S.). If they would have thrown in some jokes and slapped a Disney logo on it, I totally would have believed it was a straight-to-DVD kids' comedy flick. But that is not the case.The concept, in the manner it's portrayed, is just beyond ludicrous. The dialogue is just as bad and delivered SO seriously by the actors (who were AWFUL) that it's almost nauseating. One positive thing though is that this is one of those movies that's SO bad, you can't stop watching it. It draws the viewer in with the question, "How much worse can this possibly get?" I actually am considering re-dubbing this movie with a laugh track, and then it could possibly be 5-6/10 rating.Birth is one of those movies where the viewer is basically invited to interpret some facets in their own way, and what happens on-screen isn't completely defined as far as what the characters believe and experience. But the whole thing is so bad, I doubt most people will really care about taking it seriously. Much like famous director Ed Wood's work, the creators of Birth seem to really have believed they were shooting a stylistic piece of art with powerful dialogue and brilliant cinematography. Nothing could be further from the truth. It comes off more like a terrible B-quality soap opera pilot that never got picked up by a network and has been sitting in some dusty storage room for ten years.I do want to give credit where credit is due, however, and say that this film could possibly serve as a great how-to video for adolescent males who are trying to fulfill their ultimate fantasy by turning a grown woman into a pedophile and getting her to take a romantic interest. I really have to give the kid credit for that at least.

Desertman84 Birth is a film that follows Anna, the daughter of a prominent Manhattan-based family. It stars Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston and Cameron Bright. Anna gradually becomes convinced that her deceased husband, Sean, has been reincarnated as a 10 year-old boy also named Sean.Her initial skepticism is swayed by the child's intimate knowledge of the former married couple's life. It is directed by Jonathan Glazer.The film starts nicely enough, with the death of upper-crusty New Yorker Anna's beloved husband named Sean, had a heart attack while jogging. Fast-forward 10 years to Anna's engagement party, where an inexplicably upset guest bolts into Central Park to bury a gift-wrapped box. A short time later, a little boy shows up on the doorstep -- actually, in the lobby of Anna's high-rise -- claiming to be her late husband, trapped in the body of a chubby pre-adolescent. Now, a natural reaction would be for Anna and her blue-blood cronies to laugh so hard at this patently absurd claim that their champagne came out of their noses. That doesn't happen. For another thing, the young Sean has some pretty good parlor tricks up the sleeve of his sweat shirt, such as knowing where Sean died and on what couch he and Anna once made love.I could have given this film a one star but Nicole Kidman's performance is worthy enough to help it fall from complete disaster especially with its theme of reincarnation and transmigration-of-souls.Also,she manages to make Anna believable especially when she believes that the young Sean is the reincarnation of her husband in the sense that we completely feel for her character's undying love for him and how she hasn't overcome him after 10 years despite of getting married to Joseph.Too bad that the storyline falls after the first half of the film as it too much style at the expense of content and it registers as a stylish mystery replete with bizarre but senseless coincidences.This reminded me of the Korean movie,The Addicted so I am not really someone to laugh at its story as some viewers may have had.Although the Korean movie is superior compared to this one,Birth somehow could have been a good film only if they have explored its story before shooting it.Also,it should have made it realistic as possible and avoid all the necessary coincidences especially with young Sean's somewhat unlimited knowledge about Anna.In the end,Kidman's performance just provided some sort of a saving grace instead of a strong asset that cheesy and pretentious art film.