I didn't see Closer at the cinema, but being quite a big fan of both Julia Roberts and Jude Law I was quite keen to get it and watch it on DVD. Having done so, I have to say that it seemed quite a strange film and not overly enjoyable although it does have it's fascinating moments.
There are only four characters in the film which in itself seems quite a strange thing. There is no supporting cast of interesting characters to bring lighter moments and relieve the tension - so with just the main four I found it a bit heavy going!
A little bit about the story though. Alice, Daniel, Anna and Larry are four strangers who through a series of chance meetings get to know each other and before long, close relationships are formed. I feel that the whole purpose of the film is to take a look at modern day relationships and their trials and tribulations. However, I think that it takes quite a bleak look though, and if all relationships were like these I would seriously wonder why anyone would bother!
The film starts when Alice (Natalie Portman) and Daniel (Jude Law) are attracted across a busy street. Momentarily distracted, she is knocked down by a taxi and he takes her to hospital and there starts their love affair! Later Daniel is photographed by Anna (Julia Roberts) and there is an instant attraction there. This ultimately leads to a turbulent affair. Added to the melting pot is Larry (Clive Owen), a doctor, who after a rather torrid internet chat with Daniel who is pretending to be Anna, meets her and there starts another love affair! Does this sound confusing? It definitely is, as throughout the film, the status of these relationships are constantly changing and all become more intertwined with each other to varying degrees.
One of the things that made the film quite confusing for me was the way there were big jumps in time for which the viewer needed to very quickly work out what had happened. I don't think that I'm the sort of viewer that wants everything handed to her on a plate, but at the same time a few more links would hve been helpful! All the time I was having to think 'who's he/ she with now?' and 'how much time hs passed now?' This didn't fall favourably with me although I suppose that there are some other viewers who might like that!
As I said there were only four characters in the film which also made it hard work. The film was adapted from a stage play though, and I can see because of that why the cast is so small. Most of the characters seemed quite two dimensional to me and to be honest, none of them were very likeable. Because of this, I found that I couldn't care less what happened to any of them! Also becuse of all the jumping forward in time, you felt you missed some key events leading up to certain actions, and because of this, you were never certain of the characters' motivation.
I didn't like the way these modern day relationships were portrayed either. It made it seem as though these relationships were all about sex, and none of the characters seemed to experience much love or fun in their lives. There was a lot of obsessive behaviour and also lack of trust. Most of the time the four didn't seem to like each other, but they needed to persue the relationships.
There were some interesting camera angles in the film which I thought were quite interesting. One example is a time when Larry meets Alice. She is working as a lap dancer and a lot of their interaction is shown as through the security camera which keeps an eye on what happens!
Overall though I didn't really enjoy this film and at the end I was sort of left thinking 'what was all that about?' If there was any deep and meaningful message, I missed it. I also felt with such a promising cast that it didn't live up to its potential. So all in all I felt that this film ws a disappointment and I'm pretty sure I won't be watching it again.
Although I watched it on DVD there are not really any additional features to speak of - just the usual screen selections and choice of languages.
If I haven't put you off entirely, youmight be interested to know that Closer is currently selling on mazon for only £4.98.
More details
Soundtrack
Average
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Satisfactory
Value for Money
Satisfactory
What format are you reviewing?
DVD
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