Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Pseuds' Corner, 17 Dec 2007
I'm sorry but this is pretentious nonsense and somebody has to speak out!
I used to love (screenwriter) Patrick Marber in The Day Today and I thought his adaptation of Zoe Heller's 'Notes on a Scandal' was pretty good stuff, but this is just total dross and I can't believe anyone thinks otherwise. It's not like I spend my life watching Rambo films - name pretty much any poncey film and I've seen it twice and got the t-shirt - and I have absolutely nothing against the 'mature themes' that others have mentioned. But 'Closer' is in fact mind-bogglingly immature, like an erotic story written by a virgin. Tee hee, Natalie Portman is a stripper, Clive Owen surfs dirty websites at work, everyone jumps in and out of bed with each other... Aren't we big and aren't we clever? Well, no, actually, and dialogue such as 'I love you. I need a p*ss' is like something out of a sixth-form play.
No surprises for guessing that this was, in fact, adapted from Marber's own stage play. Everything has the ring of artificiality, and the dialogue is horribly arch and self-satisfied. The whole thing is one big Neil La Bute rip-off. Wisps of character drifting about saying unlikely things in sneery voices and swearing a bit to show how marvellously cutting edge it all is. (The funny thing is, I kind of like Neil La Bute. There's an air of originality to his work, no matter how annoying. But sloppy seconds are an entirely different matter.) Clive Owen is probably the worst offender. He can barely deliver a line here! He's so awful I almost want to cry. I hope Julia Roberts worked for free because she's barely in it. Even when she's on screen you don't notice she's there. She has one scene (with Clive Owen unfortunately) where she shows some emotional depth, but other than that she's the priciest wallpaper you're ever likely to see. As for Jude Law, they seem to have cobbled his role together from four or five different films. I can't even begin to describe his character(s). Kudos to Natalie Portman for being the least annoying of the four. It probably helps that she's luminously beautiful, and male fans will no doubt be giddy with glee watching her lapdance for Clive Owen. It seems such a waste, though, to go to the trouble of disrobing for such embarrassing pap. Is it every actress's secret desire to get nekkid? I don't understand it. No doubt the closing scene is intended to be poignant, but actually it's just an excuse to watch Portman's rack bouncing about in a skimpy top.
'Pretentious? Moi?' That line wasn't actually in the film, but it should have been. Just because it's long and complicated and un-involving doesn't make it art. If you want an intelligent, edgy film that actually says something about the human condition, try 'The Dream Life of Angels'. La Bute's 'In the Company of Men' and 'The Shape of Things' are both vaguely irritating but still a safer bet than wasting two hours of your life watching 'Closer'. This is a horrible film! A pseud in La Bute's clothing.
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24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Both bewitching and unbearable, 7 Jan 2006
The Main Feature: Is this love? Real love I mean. The sort that enchants and then repulses, that thoughtfully ensnares, then thoughtlessly rejects. Something that is at once all encompassing, yet somehow barely touchable. A fairytale always on the brink of melting into tragedy. For some it will be, for others it won't; and therein lies the power of Closer. Mike Nichols' film juxtaposes them all and then shoves them in your face, with unabashed honesty. It's wildly different to the 'love' we're normally fed in films, because all the uncomfortable and unpalatable bits are left it - and for that reason some people just won't like it. At some point most will ask whether they do or not. And for a few, that's just not something you should have to do in a movie - and they'll most probably switch off. This movie is made for the rest: who like a movie to challenge them a little, like to be left thinking at the end and once in a while don't mind staring reality in the face.
There are four main players: Anna (Julia Roberts) is a portrait photographer; Dan (Jude Law) an obituary writer; Larry (Clive Owen) a dermatologist and Alice (Natalie Portman), who is an American stripper. All put in adept, sometimes beguiling performances. Each inhabit their characters in different ways; adding another layer of intrigue to an already unusual tale. Nichols skillfully stirs together various scenes from their lives that pair them again and again with each other - and then without each other. If this is love, then it rises to the surface in many guises - comedy, tragedy, intimacy, hope, despair, vengeance - and you never know which is going to come next.
Overall Package/Extras: Disappointingly few extras - only a few trailers and a music video of Damien Rice's 'The Blower's Daughter'. A fairly strong song, but a distinctly average video. Just the sort of film where a Director's (and/or Playwright's) commentary would have been intriguing.
The one disk is packaged in a boring, standard plastic DVD case.
Verdict: Both bewitching and unbearable. A real audience divider. The DVD isn't worth buying for the Extras or if you're after a film that you'll want to watch repeatedly - because you just won't. One viewing is enough for Closer to get under your skin, if you let it. And you should - even if only once.
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46 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautifully dark study of love, 5 April 2005
By A Customer
This film is based on the brilliant play of the same name, and concerns themes of love, deception and betrayal.I think some of the viewers who have left comments on the website have largely missed the point. It is certainly not a romantic comedy (and how you would presume this from the tag-line I don't quite understand, 'If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking'). Nor is it badly acted at all, and I think the language is effective precisely because it is so real. It is not a pretty tale, it's a true one about love in London in the nineties. And believe me I was there... It is a simple story of meetings and break-ups, a brutal tale of love, the precise opposite to a rom-com. This film considers the other side of 'happy ever after', of how love turns out in a not-so-perfect world. The film is made up of a series of duologues, wonderfully acted, particularly by Owen and Portman, who truly shine in their roles. All give remarkably exposing performances, and I was really impressed by the lack of 'Hollywood glamour' in the film. Yes, all the stars are stunning, but all present very raw characters - and that is precisely what it is about. Sex is mis-presented as love, and love as sex, and both can be thrown about easily. This is not an easy film to watch. It hurts, some of the dialogue is genuinely brutal, but overall I think it's a good adaptation of the stage play. If you want to watch a nice romantic comedy, buy 'Maid in Manhatten'. But if you're after something a bit edgier and more true, then this is much closer to the bone.
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