Closer (2004)

Genres

Drama, Romance

Director

Mike Nichols

Country

USA

Cast

Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, Nick Hobbs, Colin Stinton

Storyline

Mediocre journalist Daniel (Jude Law) cannot decide between his girlfriend Alice (Natalie Portman) or his lover Anna (Julia Roberts) who is herself indecisive between Dan and her boyfriend Larry (Clive Owen).

Opinion

Closer is another of those movies I've been putting off forever because of its genre. Eventually, the cast (Natalie Portman) got the better of me so I ended up watching it, and while it isn't as clever as it wants to be, it isn't half bad either.

Based on a play by Patrick Marber who also wrote the screenplay, the film doesn't have a real plot (and that little unfolds very quickly); it's basically just a series of betrayals revolving around love, lust and human sexuality and it's engaging. It does, however, get a little bit complex/contrived and goes into the far-fetched territory more than once.

But it's a movie about people, so the flawed story isn't that important. And as a movie about people, it works nicely. Although the four characters are surreal, they aren't real people but philosophical position, they are quite fascinating and intriguing, especially Alice and Larry made even more interesting by the performances of Natalie Portman and Clive Owen. They both capture their character beautifully and they end up putting Jude Law and Julia Roberts in the corner. The problem with that? The film gives you the feeling Daniel and Anna are the ones supposed to be the focus and the most interesting characters, but they are not.

Although he wasn't able to make everything work as it should have, director Mike Nichols did a good job balancing the drama with some humour which gave the film a bit lighter tone. There are also some good shots. And good call on opening and closing the film with Damien Rice's The Blower's Daughter.