Closer (Superbit Edition)
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Movie Reviews of Closer (Superbit Edition)
Movie Review: Mesmerizing, adult drama that seethes with realism
Summary: 5 Stars
Thank you, Mike Nichols. For putting out an adult, absorbing, brutally realistic film about the capriciousness of human nature. You may not like what you see, you may not even like any of the characters, but for anyone who has been through the agonies, insecurities and uncertainties of relationships, they will recognize many of the myriad facets as such portrayed in this film. Of course this movie was only a mild success; it's too unflinching, too in-your-face for most of the masses to endure. For once, the sexual dynamics in a film make sense; most of the time, sex portrayed in films is really idiotic, because the strain of movie stars schticking their way through such scenarios is obvious, rarely credible, always ponderous. Here, though, people act and talk with a frankness that mirrors reality. The dialogue, explicit, often crude, sometimes bittersweet-funny as it is, seems to have been culled from the minds and mouths of real people. Nichols isn't afraid to expose the the vulnerabilities and fears that exist in human nature, and it is gratifying that some directors still exist who provide thought-provoking, intensely stimulating movies such as this is.
This may be one of Julia Roberts' best performances. For it places her in a new realm, that of an evolving actress capable of rising to complex material and responding superbly well to the situations and to Nichols'compact direction. Her well-known traits are kept under check here, and brings to the surface a far more interesting, multi-faceted persona. She seems more real, more human than ever.
Natalie Portman matches Roberts in every way, and she gives the most scary element in the film. You're never sure where she or her character is going to take you, and propagates the kind of fears that will strike terror in vulnerable men.
Jude Law also reaches new dimensions. He has a wonderfully expressive face, and he reveals, quite spontaneously, skillfully, the torments his character suffers.
Clive Owen gives a real star turn here, and in fact dominates the film. Owen adroitly portrays a man driven by his raging hormones, and better still, disdains to apologize for it. More than any male character I've ever seen portrayed, he is exactly who he is; Larry calls himself a "caveman" to Roberts' character, but he also shows that his love for her is genuine. Owen is at his most effective during his big scene with Roberts, when she tells him of her unfaithfulness and she intends to leave. Owen's face crumpling into heartbroken pain is entirely believable, and cuts through to the viewer; you feel his pain acutely, while reviling him on another level. Owen is not only a brilliant actor, but is devastatingly magnetic and appealing; he is the perfect embodiment of the professionally and sexually driven contemporary man.
Nichols and these actors make for a movie that you can't soon forget. It forces people to delve into interpersonal complexities that exist, but which are rarely portrayed.
Movie Review: I Can't Take My Eyes Off of You
Summary: 5 Stars
"And so it is
Just like you said it would be
Life goes easy on me
Most of the time
And so it is
The shorter story
No love, no glory
No hero in her sky
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off of you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes off you
I can't take my eyes..." song and lyrics by Damien Rice. It plays through-out the movie, and the voice and melody bring a surreal quality to a movie that is so stark and real that it leaves you breathless at times.
Directed by Mike Nichols, "Closer" the movie, tells in bits and pieces the lives of four people during four years. We see flashbacks that interpose with present day and leave us a little surprised at how easily we adapt. Alice (Natalie Portman) and
Dan (Jude Law) become lovers following a chance meeting on a street in London. She is a stripper/waitress, and he is writer/obituary writer. They move on from day to day until Dan meets Anna (Julia Roberts), a photographer of strangers. He becomes obsessed with her and wants to have an affair. Anna rebuffs him, and he pays her back with a funny internet porn site meeting. Anna meets Larry (Clive Owen) a dermatologist at The Aquarium, and they begin a love affair. At some point these two couples become intertwined while Anna and Dan fall in love, This movie belies passion, heartbreak, anger, sadness, vengeance, pleading, deception, and most importantly, brutal honesty. It's only when you're more than halfway through the movie that you realize this is a movie that wraps all of your worst nightmares into one story. Larry loves Anna, Anna loves Dan, Alice loves Dan, and Alice once loved Larry. How does this all come around to make any sense? The betrayals of each of the four are so strong that you wonder how any can recover. The anger and loss so extreme that how can love ever enter their lives again?
Julia Roberts is a marvel in this move, so serene, so lovely, and so stark. Jude Law plays the devil and the damned; bringing a bruised ego to the fore and such a cad! Clive Owen plays the man who is most intricate; so removed and so near, so full of deceit and anger. But it is, Natalie Portman who plays the woman most abused and most full of her self and her destiny and sure of whom she is and who will not settle for less. This is a movie to be remembered.
If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.
If you believe in love at first sight... Take a closer look
Those who love at first sight are traitors at every glance. (Italy)
Highly Recommended. prisrob
Movie Review: This is a great movie....buster...
Summary: 5 Stars
A film by Mike Nichols
"Closer" is a film about beginnings and endings. We are given a look into how relationships begin, and how they end. Very little of what happens in between is ever seen on screen. Because of this, there are time gaps in the story of up to a year, but after the first gap and you figure out just what the structure is, it is barely noticeable. "Closer" begins (appropriately enough) with the meeting of Alice (Natalie Portman) and Dan (Jude Law). Alice is walking down a London sidewalk. Dan is following her, observing. It isn't clear if he is stalking her, or just admiring her beauty. When Alice looks the wrong way when crossing the road, she is American, she is struck by a car. Dan is right there to get her help and this begins a flirtation and their relationship.
Dan meets Alice. Dan meets Anna. Anna meets Larry. Dan leaves Alice. Anna leaves Larry. Larry meets Alice. To call "Closer" a romantic triangle would be to do the film a disservice, not to mention that there are four people involved in this "triangle". The romantic pairings up and hooking up is the method these characters use to try to fulfill something that is lacking in their lives. But the real point here is the conversation that comes about because of it. The conversation that happens at the beginning and the ending of a relationship is the most interesting, and the most intense because the emotions are heightened and more focused, both with joy and with pain. The dialogue is sharp, incredibly intelligent (I've never come across conversation like this before in my life), it feels realistic, flirtatious, and very sexual. In particular, the dialogue at the endings of relationships is quite graphic.
"Closer" is all about character and humanity, and not so much about giving a traditional plot. The four main actors here do a fantastic job in "Closer" and collectively give the performance of the year. Natalie Portman is likely going to pick up a Best Supporting Actress Nomination (if not win) for her portrayal of Alice, the all grown up but still somewhat childish waif of a stripper. Clive Owen, however, steals the show (as does Portman) with every scene he is in. He is passionate, intense, and perfect. As is, I would suggest, this movie. It is not an upbeat movie, but it has such a warmth to it even as the characters are all treating each other really badly. This is a very impressive movie and one which I sincerely hope gets a Best Picture nomination come Oscar time.
-Joe Sherry
Movie Review: ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES...EVER!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Closer tells the story of four people who each get what they want in a relationship, but haven't a clue as to how to hang onto it. Each of the characters relationships are doomed from the beginning. None of them can see it coming, of course, but they each have a tendency to lay the groundwork to ensure its occurrence.
The movie depicts what happens when a man, Dan (Jude Law), falls for Alice (Natalie Portman). Dan sees Alice first as a vision of beauty on the streets. She gets hit by a car and he gets to save her and take her to the hospital. She's younger than him, wears skimpy outfits and works as a stripper. She completely falls for him and he's got her right where he wants her.
A year goes by and the two now live in New York. Dan sets his eye on a woman closer to his age named Anna (Julia Roberts). She works as a photographer and has been assigned to photograph Dan for the back cover of his latest book, which oddly enough, tells the story of he and Alice. Anna can see right through Dan. She can see that he doesn't love Alice, so much as he wants to hang onto her like a prize won. Frustrated, Dan tries to shake Anna's life up by sending her someone completely undesirable in a very comical scene in the film.
Anna and the character sent to her by Dan end up hitting it off which goes against Dan's plan to be an obnoxious prankster. Many more months pass by and the four lives become locked together through a series of infidelities, declarations of lust and destructive confessions. Lovers leave, hearts get broken and honeymoons crash and burn. Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.
Now, first, let me tell you this movie is not for the general public. The explicit language and sex may be too much for some to handle. Also, if you are looking to go see a movie that, when over, will make you feel all warm and tingly inside and optimistic about life, this is not the film for you. It is not meant to have a moral or teach you a lesson. It is a film depicting life and certain aspects of the human condition they way that they are in today's society. Closer studies the human tendency toward self-preservation in the face of gross deception. It is at once a condemnation of human nature and an acceptance of it.
Closer is a welcomed relief from the normal drivel being released by American cinema lately. I highly recommend this film to all those who are fascinated by the enormous gray areas of love, seduction, trust, infidelity and deception.
Movie Review: How Close can you get to someone!?
Summary: 5 Stars
Jude Law (JL), Natalie Portman (NP), Clive Owen (CO) and Julia Roberts (JR) star in this exploration of relationships. But this is anything but a mushy movie.
Jude Law plays this "obsessed with truth" man, who is unable to keep a relationship, breaking in and out of relationships. Clive Owen plays a dermatologist who meets Julia Roberts through a prank by Jude Law. That prank scene is one, graphic interlude in cyberspace and must be the first mainstream movie that addresses this aspect of modern lives.
JL is excellent in this movie and there will be a lot of broken-hearted/delighted women at the end of the movie depending on what they like about JL. The climax of the movie is particularly fantastic. It is pretty difficult to write an original romantic movie these days, considering the vast no. of movies in the genre. But then writing out a mature script like this, must be tougher!
NP stars in the role of this neo-waif who appears in JL's life and plays out an amazing sequence of events. This must be her best role yet. And she delivers like a Blue Whale on Steriods! Solid performance. She is absolutely at home playing this natural, no frills, young lady in JL's life. She is particularly terrific in one scene with CO where she keeps uttering soft "Thank You s" while he's raving. She's "Oh! so desirable!" as the young carefree girlfriend of JL in the initial parts of the movie. And then there's this extraordinary scene in which JR is shooting NP.
JR essays the role of a professional photographer, quite creditably. Her character brings to mind the protagonist's lover (also a photographer) in Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being." She's got an ordinary role in the movie, not quite as strong as JL/NP/CO, but she is very impressive as the woman who's torn between a man who dotes on her and a man who can't see her with anyone else.
The surprise packet is CO. He excels in the role of the sex-obsessed husband who is surprisingly faithful to JR, to whom he is married till the ending of the movie where the movie turns into a hash of relationships gone awry - like the script writer went crazy. Anyways, watch out for the last few scenes in the movie where JL goes to meet CO at work. Awesome. If one thought that a star could never be overshadowed by a lesser known actor, check this out.
On that tantalizing note, I recommend Closer for anyone who's been in and out of an intense relationship or will be!