Nicole Kidman: A Kind of Life

To see Nicole Kidman in “Dead Calm” or “To Die For” is to witness a transcendent and undeniably great actress with plenty of on screen chemistry with her leading men in those films. However, this reader was unaware of her many other films which did not reach those levels. Since her film debut in 1983, Kidman has made over forty-five films. The author, Dickerson makes a case that Kidman lacks chemistry with her leading men, including her former husband Ton Cruise in Eyes Wide Shut. Dickerson also notes many other examples of her lack of chemistry, which is such a critical element in a motion picture. The author also interviews an actor in that Eyes Wide Shut who details the abusive scenes directed with apparent sadism by director, Stanley Kubrick

Much of the book is devoted to plot summaries of Kidman’s films which tends to be tedious reading. Kidman is depicted as an extremely ambitious person who goes to any lengths to win celebrity and acclaim. There isn’t much substance to this book. It doesn’t seem that other than one actor, the author had access to originally sourced biographical information about Kidman.