by Nathaniel R
We knew ahead of time that Nicole Kidman would be great in Destroyer -- it's kind of her schtick to be brilliant, duh! So it's not a surprise to hear early reviews saying that she delivers and then some. But it IS a surprise and a nice change of pace, post Lion & Big Little Lies, that people are willing to praise her so extravagantly for her uncommon gifts rather than berate her for (take your pick) not being warm enough onscreen / having a frozen forehead / liking "weird" projects / whatever other dumb things people used to hold against her between the Oscar win and Lion (so roughly 2003-2015)... Seriously why must every great actress go through the public hate period?
Anyway. In "we all love Kidman again" mode (nice but obnoxious to those of us who never stopped and didn't fall for the misogyny hamster wheel of public opinion) these are the kind of reviews she's getting...
- The Wrap "Repulsively brilliant. Is this the best performance of Kidman’s career? It very well might be."
- Variety "This is a transformation on par with Charlize Theron in Monster — not just in appearance, but in terms of her entire persona."
- The Hollywood Reporter "a bold performance in a sometimes potent but troublesome film"
- IndieWire "Kidman’s versatility is often the center of any movie in which she stars, but she hasn’t burrowed this deep into her material since Birth"...
It should be noted that most of the reviews are entirely Kidman focused so people are not saying much about the film -- or in THR's case definitely don't like it very much. Or make it sound thoroughly unpleasant like Kidman's own You Were Never Really Here or something. I would say that that Christmas release is a mistake but then Monster, also totally unpleasant with a hard-to-look-at antiheroine at the center, did pretty well at the box office and at the Oscars with a similar release date. We shall see.
In related news: Early reviews for Boy Erased are also in (respectful, particularly for the actors, but not effusive raves) at Variety, Vanity Fair, and THR... but I regret to inform that apparently the movie is told in a non-linear style which nearly always strikes me as too affected and more trouble than its worth, dramatically. I wish that now fairly familiar storytelling affectation would be put out of its misery for good.
These Telluride debuts also gave her a chance to reunite with her friend and Australia (2008) co-star Hugh Jackman. Awww, they look so great together. Can they please co-star again?
