The Many Flops of Nicole Kidman

In The Guardian, the esteemed critic David Thomson returns to one of his favorite subjects: Nicole Kidman. At issue here is why Kidman’s movies—the latest of which is the limp Australia—never seem to earn any money. See, for example, The Stepford Wives, The Golden Compass, and The Invasion. On the one hand, Thomson says that Kidman is a 40ish actress uniquely willing to make brave choices (Fur or Birth). On the other, roles in films like Australia take her good looks and hide them in clothes that are, well, a bit too outback. “Kidman, I think, sometimes feels more at ease if she looks sensational. This is an actress who needs to be put in chic clothes in romantic comedies where she can be funny, and wicked, and drop a few of the clothes.”