Closer

Starring: Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen, Natalie Portman
Directed by: Mike Nichols
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance
2004

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Four selfish people, a photographer (Julia Roberts), a doctor (Clive Owen), a writer (Jude Law), and a stripper (Natalie Portman) have various and interchanging relationships with each other, which strains everyone involved.

Review:

Tim: Let's focus on the positives first. Mike Nichols assembles an excellent cast. Julia Roberts acts very well, different from her typical roles. However, she felt out of place to me throughout the whole movie. Jude Law is decent, but at times bored me. He shined in several scenes, however. Clive Owen gave the best performance, in my opinion. He conveyed a feeling of complexity and underlying rage that was fascinating to watch. He scene with Law (not the internet one) is the best of the film. Natalie Portman was the weakest link in the cast. Besides the opening scene, she never seems to belong anywhere, and interacts least effectively with the rest of the cast.

Besides pure acting, I was very disappointed with the film. It was made amazing well, but it is just a movie that is hard to enjoy. There are no likeable characters, as everyone goes way past flawed. We have no one to root for or to like. Secondly, the dialogue is a bit gritty and perverse. It is enough to make even the most laid back viewer blush. Several scenes were painfully long. The internet chat scene between Owen and Law is humorous at first, but quickly gets old and ends up not being very good at all.

I'd advise you to watch Closer only if you're very focused on the performances, because otherwise, I believe you'll be somewhat disgusted by the behavior everyone in the film displays.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Graduate, The Birdcage, Pretty Woman, The Talented Mr. Ripley