Closer Movie Review:


Although “Closer” has only one interest, it may be one of those interests that actually matter in any lifetime. It's about relationships -- in particular, the relationships between people who are attracted to one another. Focusing almost entirely on one-to-one conversations, the movie depicts the selfish nature of attractions and the use of deception as an obvious tool in the quest to satisfy an attraction. Because of the differences in personality among its four primary characters, viewers have quite a bit to reflect upon after they watch the unsettling yet familiar wars waged with words in the name of "love."

This is a daring movie because it has so much potential not to work. “Closer” emerges as a prime example of how a script can find a precious breath of life, thus escaping from a chasm of doom, by finding just the right combination of actors and director. Veteran director Mike Nichols knows just what he wants his characters to be like, and his four players deliver impressively. All of them are vastly dislikable, but thanks to Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen, they're also easily identifiable and honestly portrayed.

“Closer” depends on its particular actors like a car depends on its tires. All of them are so skilled in expressing their characters' ugly nuances that it's hard to imagine the movie working at all if the cast were different. Roberts has been dishing out fiery righteousness for years; here, the righteousness is subdued, the fire withheld because of the guilt that constantly counteracts it, a guilt borne from saying what sounds right and believing something else. Owen is a tough customer, and here he's able to transform that outer toughness into a smugness created by pride in his own simplicity.

Law seems born for his role as a pretty boy who, despicably, can't control his attractions and has no intention to try. He's charming and clever, good with words, and cries when he can't get his way as a way of getting his way. He makes up for his callousness by believing his selected moments of bluntness reveal how much he really cares, as if he's convincing himself more than the person he's talking to. And Portman is a revelation as a wicked youth who uses her bluntness as a defense and deceit as an offense. She has to watch what she says because her emotions give too much away.

Because we recognize these people and the traits they exhibit, we can consider what the movie is saying about relationships. We see how neurotic over-analysis corrupts any purity of emotion and causes such relationships to become a game of self-justification. These characters defend in anticipation of attack. Whatever drove any two of them to get together in the first place is lost in the destructive ritual of maintaining an empty status quo. Perhaps it's no epiphany that most people's motives in any relationship are selfish, but here no punches are pulled for the sake of showing just how easy it is for the machine to fall into this perpetual motion. The movie uses "strangers" as a constant theme, and shows how the "stranger" status can never be overcome when trust is sacrificed for the sake of strengthening defenses.

Its path of guarded destruction is unrelenting and its characters are no fun to be around, so “Closer” runs the risk of turning its constant sourness bland. What begins as fascinating plays dangerously close to being repetitive. Thankfully, the film moves relatively quickly, with large jumps in chronology and with a short running time overall. Most of all, it offers a sumptuous palette of acting. We wouldn't care what the movie is trying to say if we couldn't be convinced these people were real. Though you may find the characters distasteful, you might not, as the film's theme song suggests, be able to take your eyes and mind off of them.



Jeffrey Chen

The games we play and the things we say are explored in “Closer” the new film from director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Patrick Marber, based on his play.

We all have a lot to say when our hearts are involved. This has never been truer for four unique and inwardly tortured strangers.

Anna (Julia Roberts) gives into temptation a little when she photographs heavily-involved Dan (Jude Law) for his latest book jacket. The raw attraction between the two is undeniable but Dan is involved with Alice (Natalie Portman), a stripper with a heart of gold who is trying to hang up her degrading career.

Meanwhile a prominent doctor, Larry (Clive Owen) has a rather erotic chat online with a female stranger, who unbeknownst to Larry is actually Dan. Before Larry knows it he will come face to face with Anna, Alice and eventually Dan. His encounters will unhinge a web of deceit, lies and eventual heartbreak.

“Closer” has been dubbed an “adult film about adults for adults”. What exactly does that mean? And is that such a rare commodity in today’s multiplexes?

“Closer” brutally, honestly and emotionally corrupts and eventually dissects its characters right before your very eyes. But as a film goes we watch the journey and see some wonderful performances but that is about all. The film spends a lot of time on the characters and if you aren’t hooked in the first 10 minutes you are in for a long and drawn out ride.

“Closer” is about the characters and it studies them and breaks them down so we can see just how people can self-destruct and harm each other all in the name of love. Or is it love?

Are really any of these characters actually in love? That surely is debatable. They seem too selfish and selfless to know what love is. I would have to say the only character that could have been in love was Clive Owen’s Larry. Because he seems to be the only one who actually falls apart. There is also some ounce of love in Natalie Portman’s Alice but that seems to prove false in the last 20 minutes.

I really loved both the performances of Clive Owen and Natalie Portman because I found them the most believable. Both Julia Roberts and Jude Law seem to be holding their cards so close to their chests that they almost come off as bored zombies. The last time I remember Julia Roberts being this withdrawn on screen was when she played the title role in “Mary Reilly”. As for Law he is just a really confused pretty face.

I liked that Owen’s Larry was a self-erupting volcano of raw emotion and he seemed to be the only thunderhead in this emotionless blue sky of a film. He is a brute but at least he is honest. There is so much range in his performance from his awkwardness in the aquarium scenes to his animalistic shows of emotion in mid to later portions of the film. He proves once more how utterly brilliant this underrated actor is.

Yes, “Closer” is an adult film but it is also a study in human emotion and interaction. What the film lacks is a sense of larger depth, fuller scope and deeper tension. Just because it is based on a play doesn’t mean it actually has to look and feel like one.

Because “Closer” feels so much like a play I think it loses its impact. If this were live and we were in the same room with these people it would be more shocking and revealing to us but because its celluloid it is almost like we are one of those guys who sits in the glass booths to watch strippers. We aren’t in the same room, yet we are. It’s odd and a lot of the emotion is lost in transition to celluloid or through a pane of glass.

“Closer” is an interesting character study and probably should be examined by university media courses but as for entertainment it is just really off putting.



So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

And so it is, two people meet on a crowded London street. The attraction is instant. They can’t take their eyes off each other. A hospital visit, a walk, a conversation and a relationship is formed. And so it is, two people mistakenly meet in an aquarium, one thinks she is here to meet him for an afternoon of passion the other just wanted to look at the fish. A conversation starts, a connection grows and a relationship starts. Through association fuelled by passion, a tentative bond is formed that will bring them all, closer.

Character driven drama can be very hit and miss especially when strong emotions come into play but can director Mike Nichols’ story of passion, lust and love draw you closer?

Based on the play by Patrick Marber, ‘Closer’ sees the veteran director bring us his best movie in a very long time. This is a powerful and emotional drama, spanning four years in the lives of two couples, intertwined through passion, love, jealousy and infidelity. Every emotion associated with a relationship is explored and laid to bear, as we witness four people’s lives come together and fall apart.

What makes the film so watchable is how real the story is. This isn’t an epic tale of love or a story of love overcoming great adversity or even an account of soul mates destined to be together, these are four average, everyday people coming into each other’s lives. You instantly connect with them, following their trails and tribulations as their romantic lives become more complex and interwoven. From the initial meeting of Dan and Alice on a London street, we see a story of circumstance and events play out, that would have never have occurred would not have been for that initial, fateful meeting.

At the centre of the movie is the performance from the four leads. The whole film revolves around them, with no supporting characters to distract you from their characters. Our initial pair is Dan and Alice, played wonderfully by Jude Law and Natalie Portman. As Dan, Jude Law goes through the biggest transformation. When we are first introduced to him he is an underachieving writer, confined to the obituary section of a London newspaper. Over the course of the movie we see his character grow into a confident and published novelist, full of charisma. Dan is probably the most dislikeable character in the movie, coming across as very selfish and uncaring, dishing out the words ‘I love you’ with no real understanding of what it actually means. The role proves again that there is more to Law than just his pretty boy looks and he is an actor to be taken seriously. It is Alice who draws Dan out of himself with an injection confidence, but in doing so doomed their relationship from the start. When we first meet her, Alice is brimming with self-assurance, an enigma that any man would be instantly draw to but over the course of the movie we find out she is completely different. After been unfairly labelled as a commercial film actress due to her association with a rather big science fiction franchise, Natalie Portman proves again that she is an extremely talented actress. The role of Alice is probably the most complex of the piece as you only get to see her true self very briefly and you don’t realise this until well after the event. The role is a tour-de-force for Portman and a true reflection of the talent she first showed us in ‘Leon (The Professional)’ all those years ago.

Joining the story later on are Larry and Anna, played by Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. Larry is an overly shy dermatologist, who likes to meet women over the Internet and has never really found true happiness. This is quite far removed from the usual heartthrob roles you usually equate Clive Owen with. He plays the vulnerable member of the four, the one who is the real innocent party, whose only crime was to fall in love with a woman he couldn’t really trust. Owen really comes into his own when he discovers his relationship is falling apart and shows again what a good character actor he really is. Julia Roberts’ Anna is probably the least developed of the characters in the film. Through no fault of her own, you never really see why the two men are drawn to her, apart from her good looks. While she may be a successful photographer, she is a woman who longs to be loved and when she has it she throws it away. Julia Roberts does here best with what she has but the character needs a little more to bring the best out of her.

‘Closer’ is a character driven drama that feels very real. Its stage play roots are abundantly clear as this is a story about four people and nothing more but each of them played to the best of the actors abilities. Uncompromising, sexual, funny and truthful, this is a look at modern relationships at their most frank and a true reflection of the perils and pitfalls of love. And so it is, just you think it should be and not a Hollywood fairytale.

Jamie Kelwick

 

Site Contents Copyright© The Z Review, unless used with permission.This site has no intention to infringe on the rights of the film owners of Closer and intellectual copyright holders of the movies mentioned herein & hold copyright over the movie, characters, merchandise & storyline.