Amazon.co.uk Review
Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winning director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty. It's only until you're more than halfway through the movie that you'll have to ask yourself exactly why you are watching such a beautifully tragic tale, as Closer is basically the ickiest, grossest, most dysfunctional parts of all your past relationships strung together into one movie. Ultimately, it falls to the four actors to draw you deeper into the story; all succeed relatively, but it's Law and Owen whose characters will cut you to the quick. Law proves that yet again he's most adept at playing charming, amoral bastards with manipulative streaks, and Owen is nothing short of brilliant as the character most turned on by the energy inherent in destructive relationships--whether he's on the giving or receiving end. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews:
Not a fluffy rom-com.......2008-03-02
Three stars is possibly a little harsh as I was absolutely glued to the screen for the entire film and turned it up every time I thought I might miss something. But, the big BUT, it's not really "entertainment". Which is surely what a film should be, unless it carries some kind of warning. (While on that point, how on earth did this get a 15 accreditation and not an 18? Don't watch with your grandmother or maiden aunt.)
Watching all kinds of the most horrible relationship issues played out on the screen, and always limited to the four main characters, is a claustrophobic experience. Made worse by the fact it is based on a play. Clive Owen in particular seemed to be woodenly reading from a script, and (correct me if I'm wrong guys) Natalie Portman, great actess though she is, failed to convince me as a stripper. None of the characters had any depth but were representing different aspects of doomed relationships: first months of obsession, the clingy woman, the man drifting away, the power of sexual jealousy, betrayal, revenge. How people can suddenly and for bizarre reasons go off someone irrevocably. Sadly, there was no happy ending or anything to look forward to for any of them. Perhaps they had learned by their mistakes; but it seemed unlikely.
Sucked........2008-02-24
After falling in love with the soundtrack, (The Blowers Daughter By Damien Rice) I had very high expectations for this movie. I expected more from such a starry cast. :)
Brave attempt at a more sophisticated love story...........2008-02-23
Interesting and original film, in which four people whose paths cross, start to form relationships, and generally make each others lives much more miserable than they were before. It's easy to see that this was adapted from the stage - there's limited action and a lot of very long dialogue, some of which is quite engaging, witty or moving (Jude Law's cyber-sex, Clive Owen's vicious verbal attack on Julia Roberts when he discovers her affair). The men generally out-perform the women, though Julia Ruberts is nonetheless not bad in a more downbeat and submissive role than she usually adopts. A lot of people who've submitted reviews on here seem to be confusing Natalie Portman's undeniable beauty with acting ability. They really aren't the same thing, and in this film she's flat and unconvincing - pretty, but not beguiling - I couldn't see her as the object of anyone's affection - unless the writer was deliberately trying to make the point that most men covet asthetics over personality and compatibility, and that's what leads to unsuitable couplings that end in misery. Nice soundtrack and production. Overall, a film worth seeing.
vacuuous drivel.......2008-01-28
This film features characters that you can't really feel sorry for or like, meandering through a script that is like listening to a couple swearing at eachother in the flat above you about their 'relationships' with other people. Pretty soon you get tired of this empty, lifeless nonesense and are left feeling very depressed. I don't think the actors and actresses chosen to star in this film matched the characters either.
1 star is too high a rating for this film which is without a shadow of a doubt the worse film i have ever seen.
I try not to get 'Closer'.......2007-12-26
Having had high expectations for this movie because of it's bgrilliant cast, I was so disappointed on actually watching it.On paper, it should be wonderful. A brilliant cast that includes Jude Law, Julia Roberts and Natalie Portman.
I couldn't even follow it half the time, and the whole thing looked like it was borrowed from an agony aunt page in a cheap magazine or paper. To make it worse, the movie claims to be about modern relationships but I don't know of anybody with a tangled life the characters in this movie and what is more, it seems to be primarily about sex ad relationships are made up of more than that. It might be that I'm simply not seeing the whole picture here, but, if you want my advice, don't waste your time.
Amazon.co.uk
Four extremely beautiful people do extremely horrible things to one another in Closer, Mike Nichols' pungent adaptation of Patrick Marber's play that easily marks the Oscar-winning director's best work in years. Anna (Julia Roberts) is a photographer who specializes in portraits of strangers; Dan (Jude Law) is an obituary writer struggling to become a novelist; Alice (Natalie Portman) is an American stripper freshly arrived in London after a bad relationship; and Larry (Clive Owen) is a dermatologist who finds love under the most unlikely of circumstances. When their paths cross it's a dizzying supernova of emotions, as Nichols and Marber adroitly construct various scenes out of their lives that pair them again and again in various permutations of passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty.
It's only until you're more than halfway through the movie that you'll have to ask yourself exactly why you are watching such a beautifully tragic tale, as Closer is basically the ickiest, grossest, most dysfunctional parts of all your past relationships strung together into one movie. Ultimately, it falls on the four actors to draw you deeper into the story. All succeed relatively, but it's Law and Owen whose characters will cut you to the quick. Law proves that yet again he's most adept at playing charming, amoral bastards with manipulative streaks, and Owen is nothing short of brilliant as the character most turned on by the energy inherent in destructive relationships--whether he's on the giving or receiving end. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews:
Passed the time of day.......2007-12-21
This was watchable just about. Julia Roberts still is being cast as the sexy character and it doesn't quite work anymore. None of the characters are that likeable but its ok for a bored Tuesday night in front of the TV.
UK DVD:
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