Birth

Unabashedly pushing 40 yet intriguingly elfin, Nicole Kidman is exquisite in this sophisticated, off-kilter drama about a melancholy Park Avenue widow and a 10-year-old boy who claims to be the reincarnation of her beloved late husband. Birth turns more on powerful unspoken feelings than it does on linear plot, as the deadly-serious kid (Cameron Bright)--unfazed by her initial skepticism--candidly reveals intimate details of Kidman's marriage, determined to convince her of his identity. Half of Kidman wants to break this child of his delusions, but the other half believes him and cannot let go. Director Jonathan Glazer (Sexy Beast) employs long close-ups as troubled thoughts and unsettling emotions creep with minute subtlety across the faces of his characters, including Kidman's current fiancé (Danny Huston, Silver City), a levelheaded man who loses an internal struggle against mounting insecurity and anticipation of tragedy. The film is uncomfortable to watch at times, and it stumbles in spots, but the characters ring true and Glazer recovers beautifully in a last act that is open to interpretation, leaving your mind whirling with the possibilities of what has happened and what it means. Recommended. (R. Blackwelder)