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Birth (2004)

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Average Rating: 5.2/10
Reviews Counted: 140
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 86

A well-mounted production is undermined by a muddled, absurd storyline of questionable taste.

Average Rating: 5.3/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 25

A well-mounted production is undermined by a muddled, absurd storyline of questionable taste.

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Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 27,062

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Movie Info

Directed by Jonathan Glazer, Birth takes place in New York's Upper East Side, where Anna (Nicole Kidman), a 35-year-old widow, resides. Just as Anna has shaken off what she thought were the final remnants of her old life -- she has even found love with a new man, Joseph (Danny Huston), whom she plans on marrying -- Sean (Cameron Bright), a ten-year-old boy, comes into her life insisting that he is the reincarnation of her late husband. Though she initially brushes off the boy's claims as the

R, 1 hr. 40 min.

Mystery & Suspense, Drama

Directed By: Jonathan Glazer , Alison Elliott

Written By: Jean-Claude Carriere, Milo Addica

In Theaters: Nov 5, 2004 Wide

On DVD: Apr 19, 2005

Box Office:$5.0M

New Line Cinema

Unusually austere and ambiguous.

November 11, 2004 Full Review Source: Slate

| Comment

David Edelstein

Slate

Top Critic

By trying to turn Birth into a thriller, the filmmakers undermine its intriguing issues.

November 2, 2004 Full Review Source: ReelViews

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James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Top Critic

A dismayingly skillful exercise in high-style creepiness.

November 2, 2004 Comment

David Denby

New Yorker

Top Critic

I didn't find it spellbinding at all.

November 1, 2004 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper

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Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

The picture, as a whole, never gets beyond its surface.

October 30, 2004 Full Review Source: Salon.com

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Stephanie Zacharek

Salon.com

Top Critic

Too highbrow for the multiplex and too literal for the hipsters, it's unsatisfying both as gothic camp and serious cinema.

October 29, 2004 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Michael O'Sullivan

Washington Post

Top Critic

What begins as a promising and provocative melodrama gradually turns into na conventional and frustrating movie, aimless and pretentious.

April 23, 2011 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

What were they thinking?

December 22, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

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Nell Minow

Common Sense Media

Manhattan-based supernatural thriller done in the tone of "Rosemary's Baby" starts out strong but loses all steam in its third act.

April 18, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

all the best and all the worst things associated with the phrase "art film"

September 12, 2005 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

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Dragan Antulov

Draxblog Movie Reviews Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews

Nadie deber�a ir a ver esta pel�cula sin estar dispuesto a sumergirse en un clima extra�o, donde conviven el misterio, la sensualidad y la locura.

August 27, 2005 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total

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Enrique Buchichio

Uruguay Total

Frustratingly stillborn.

May 3, 2005 Full Review Source: Lessons of Darkness

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Nick Schager

Lessons of Darkness

Birth tries, with deeply mixed results, to fundamentally address its central mystery while also retaining an aura of intangibility.

April 25, 2005 Full Review Source: Now Playing Magazine

| Comment

Brent Simon

Now Playing Magazine Source: Now Playing Magazine

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Audience Reviews for Birth

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wts

September 27, 2010

Anatoliy Dudaev

Super Reviewer

Creepy and disturbing and without any real conclusion. A disappointing film to be honest as I?ve been looking forward to watching this for a while. Still, Glazer's direction is faultless and every shot looks like a painting, it?s a shame then that the rest of the film spends less time on the details and a great cast is

October 1, 2009

Anthony Lawrie

Super Reviewer

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Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try.
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