Nicole Kidman's latest bomb: THE INVASION

Variety today panned the hell out of this remake of INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS, provoking yet another round of "Why can't Nicole Kidman make a good movie?" Surely she's offered just about everything, so you'd think she'd stay clear of anything that smacks of a recycled idea, after the tediously campy and unfunny STEPFORD WIVES (compare it to the original -- never considered great but now seems subtle and riveting -- to reconsider how bad it was), then the busy but too-high-a-concept BEWITCHED. Her only interesting work in recent years has been the smaller projects, i.e. BIRTH, but even that ultimately fell apart in the third act.

Maybe Variety is way off base, and maybe THE INVASION will prove more substantial and fun than it has been made to sound. But as has already been noted: mid-August is like February -- a boneyard of poorer (poorly tested anyway) films. Apparently, this version had to have a third of it reshot.

Nicole, find yourself a script that isn't written by twenty writers, in turnaround for five years...or dare to take a supporting role that's meaty, or come back to Broadway (Dolls House? A new Charles Busch? PLENTY?), but please stop looking for "a hit movie." Your quest for a great commercial property that opens with 75 million and glowing reviews has failed. Fire everyone who advises you.

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Updated On: 8/15/07 at 05:13 PM

What is The Invasion even about?

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Isn't she in The Golden Compass? That'll be successful, I bet.

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I have a feeling that Baz's AUSTRALIA with her and Jackman will make a bit of noise.

Oh Pab, please - you're expecting reading comprehension?!?!?

The Golden Compass looks really cool.

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Perhaps STARDUST will ultimately take on a cult status, once it's on DVD. It has some of the earmarks.

I will be among the first to see this INVASION, as a lifelong fan of the original -- still a near-masterpiece, despite the bit of cheeze whiz at the end.

New ground in sci-fi/horror seems a bewildering challenge. I remember when Spielberg's AI came out (a movie I personally adore, though many loathe it), and THE TRUMAN SHOW. People were wringing their hands about how the genre(s) had declined. Yet now, those two movies seem breathtakingly original in the age of gore-fests.

Yes, we had compelling stuff from M. Night Shamalyan. But even he let down the hoardes with THE VILLAGE and especially the debacle of last summer with Ron Howard's daughter in a pool.

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Ms. Cartwright is in the latest version.

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Actually, this could count as the fifth remake, if you count "The Faculty", which is basically "Body Snatchers" in high school (and references it endlessly, in that pseudo-hip nineties-movie way). I agree it's not exactly fresh, but that story seems to work, to an extent, in all its versions.

Ms. Kidman certainly could use some career rehab, especially as she approaches 40 (that dreaded Hollywood cutoff point for actresses). I too long for the "Moulin Rouge" glory years. Maybe, with "The Golden Compass" as a start, she can forge a new seductive-villainess career, as Michelle Pfeiffer appears to be doing with "Hairspray" and "Stardust."

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She needs new people around her, to offer entirely different career advice. But the Aussie western looks promising. I'm personally tired of the Doris Day era -- lame comedies and "suspense" films that she walks through. But isn't she already 40?

I think it's she and Julia Roberts redid THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. Why not? I almost think it would work.

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"I think it's she and Julia Roberts redid THE CHILDREN'S HOUR. Why not? I almost think it would work."

Auggie, you might be onto something here. But I don't want a redo, I would like an honest adaptation!

I'm thinking a splashy openning, and then *poof*, it's gone.

As for CHILDREN'S HOUR, I always think of Shirley MacLaine speaking about it in THE CELULOID CLOSET. She claims the subject was never even discussed - which boggles my mind as much as it seems to have boggled hers.

"You just highlighted exact why her name keeps my ass out of a movie theater seat. I detested every one of those films."

You hated every single one? Awwww, that's no fun. Maybe you just don't like her, rather than just not liking her movies. I'm not sure that makes sense. I'm so tired.

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