Charles H. Levenson 2008-03-28
2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
The premise of"Birth"as has been detailed in over 100 previous reviews is that a young woman,played by Nicole Kidmann,a widow for a decade,is about to re-marry..Suddenly a ten year old boy appears,sneaking into her apartment during a birthday celebration for her mother,and announces that he is her long dead husband..From this point onward the film,which is has a rather ridiculous plot to begin with,becomes even more ridiculous..The reactions to this rather obsessive behaviour on the part of the boy by all of the adults is about as realistic as the notion that the moon is made out of green cheese..The widow,already pegged as being in fragile mental health before the boy's startling assertions about his alledged idenity becomes even more unhinged,although the manifestations of same are subtle rather than heavy handed and obvious..After some early doubt she falls for his story,as do some of the other adult members of her family..The boy's parents,instead of taking the boy to the nearest shrink instead let the boy stay overnight at the widow's apartment,thus enabling the mental problems of both widow and boy and letting them grow..
While there in the widow's apartment,with the apparent blessing of all of the widow's kin(with the sole exception of "joseph" the widow's newly aquired fiance,whose reaction is jealous rage)the widow explores the boy's obsession and,once convinced that the boy is indeed the reincarnated husband,responds to him as if there is nothing wrong with a thirty-something woman being in love with a ten year old boy..This particularly perverse theme is taken to disgusting extremes when the two are both naked together in the same bathtub,and,a little later,ALMOST sleep together in the same bed..
Well,it turns out that a little incident at the very begining of the film SHOULD have tipped us all off and,by the way,blown the whole premise of the film to much-deserved bits..The film opens with the engagement party for the widow and"Joseph"..One of the invited guests is Anne Heche,wife of"Clifford" who had been best man at the widow's first wedding ..Heche tells her husband to go up to the party without her,making some excuse..She then sneaks across the street to a park and disappears into some bushes where she buries a sheaf of papers and thinking that she has not been seen,leaves to attend the party..But she had been seen,by a boy,who had followed her..
As it turns out the sheaf of papers are letters ..Heche had been the mistress of Kidmann's first husband and the letters are evidence,and all of the details necessary for someone to know things,intimate things,about Kidmann and her deceased husband..
So,obviously,the boy found the letters,read them,and imagined himself to have become the dead husband..Reason enough,when he first says so,for any REAL parent to have him looked at by competent professionals..
Also obviously,the widow is in a very fragile state of mental health,and when,very quickly,she buys into the boy's story,the adults around her should have made sure that she too see a doctor,rather than consenting to such perverse things as letting the two be naked together in one of those small,claw-footed white bath-tubs..
Some think that this film is"daring" and "Brilliant",but it is a weak story,dependent upon extreme,almost pornographic themes to keep it stumbling along,to a very lame and unconvincing conclusion...
