If ever a role was cut out for Nicole Kidman and her increasingly immobile face, it’s this one: in “The Golden Compass,” she plays the villain, Mrs. Coulter, whose icily gorgeous exterior hides a penchant for subjecting small children to horrifying lab experiments.
A working forehead isn’t required here. In fact, Kidman’s resemblance to some sort of demented Barbie doll actually works in her favor.
But it’s going to take a lot to bring the Aussie actress’ career back from the brink. No matter what she does, Kidman can’t seem to get a break.
Looking at her recent resume, there aren’t many choices that leap out as obvious bad calls. Even remakes of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Stepford Wives” could both sound compelling on paper (though, as a Botox addict, it might not be in her best interest to take on projects in which she’s the one remaining face of humanity).
Yet everything the actress touches lately seems to tank. It’s a trend that began shortly after she won the Oscar for her 2002 performance as Virginia Woolf in “The Hours” – in which she was, it’s worth noting, at her frumpiest, sporting drab, mouse-brown hair and a fake nose.
2003 brought “Stepford,” “The Human Stain” and “Cold Mountain,” all of which underperformed at the box office. Next came “The Interpreter,” a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it thriller, and “Bewitched,” which rounded out a trio of ill-fated remakes.
In addition to “The Golden Compass,” she starred this fall in Noah Baumbach’s “Margot at the Wedding,” a dour indie which garnered some praise for Kidman’s bold performance as an unlikable protagonist. But, as one critic pointed out, it was excruciating watching her attempt to work up facial expressions.
Still, she could turn it all around. Reviews in England have heaped praise on her “Golden Compass” performance, even the ones that weren’t altogether happy with the film.
“If Darth Vader wore a blond wig, a slinky dress and a dab of Chanel behind each ear, he could hardly be as evil as Nicole Kidman, playing the gorgeous villainess Mrs Coulter,” wrote Peter Bradshaw in The Guardian. “This is the very best sort of part for her: statuesque, elegant, seductive, with a hint of cold steel. In many ways, it’s her juiciest character since the sociopathic meteorologist in ‘To Die For.” ”
Which is certainly a career high to aim for. After all, as her character says in that film, “What’s the point of doing anything worthwhile if nobody’s watching?”