51. Destroyer; movie review

DESTROYER
Cert 15
118 mins
BBFC advice: Contains very strong language, strong violence, sex

Back in 2004, the rather snotty Lauren Bacall delivered a withering put-down of Nicole Kidman, her co-star in the movie Birth.
Bacall, who was one of Hollywood's most enduring stars, took a dig at Kidman after an interviewer described the Australian as a "screen legend", retorting that she was "a beginner."
If it was harsh then, it would be plain wrong by 2019.
Kidman's catalogue is as A-list as it gets but her new movie, Destroyer, presents an entirely new side to her.
She is unrecognisable as the dowdy, dishevelled, drunken detective, shambling around in search of revenge.
But she is more than just well made up. This is Kidman proving that Bacall had underestimated her - big time.
Her character is initially scene sloping up to the scene of the murder of an unidentified victim and claiming, to the disdain of her sober colleagues, that she knows who killed him.
Her one-woman investigation continues amid bluster and booze and a hellish relationship with her 16-year-old daughter (Jade Pettyjohn).
Kidman is the undoubted star of this movie but bows should also be taken by director Karyn Kusama and screenwriters Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi.
Kusama keeps the camera right in Kidman's face throughout even though the make-up department has made her just about as ragged and, consequently, unappealing as possible.
Meanwhile, the screenplay cleverly shifts from the present to 15 years past to alight upon the undercover investigation which proved the detective's undoing.
Within these gear changes are subtle shifts which keep the already rapt audience guessing.
Destroyer earned Kidman a Golden Globe nomination which she entirely deserves. I am perplexed why it has not attracted the Oscar judges.

Reasons to watch: Nicole Kidman at her best
Reasons to avoid: Very downbeat and lots of swearing

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: Yes
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Did you know? Nicole Kidman has Academy Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, five Golden Globes and the Berlin Film Festival Silver Bear for Best Actress.

The final word. Karyn Kusama: "I thought of it less as a cop movie and more about positions of power and the idea that we watch a person who has the power of the badge, the power of the gun, the power of a department behind her, even when she’s clearly a wreck."

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