Closer DVD > Reviews > Closer - A moral tale?

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Liked it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Unmemorable
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Intellectual, Compelling
Disadvantages:	Hardly cheery

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

It was early 2005 and I was bored so decided to go to the cinema and had no idea what to watch. 'Closer' was a film that I did not feel entirely enthused about going to see but I was sure that the star power would see me through it.

The film is essentially a tale of four people intertwined by their own confusion as to who it is that they love or lust after.
Dan (Jude Law) is a smart journalist (well, obituary writer) who is in a relationship with cute and lovable Alice (Natalie Portman) but has a burning desire for enigmatic photographer Anna (Julia Roberts).
Anna is torn between aforementioned Dan and the very much rough and ready doctor Larry (Clive Owen).

The pitch sounds cheesy and terrible. Sounds like a typical 'we've got no clue what we are filing but lets stick a load of HUGE stars in it and we've got a guaranteed box office hit' and this is how I feared it would turn out.

What seems to keep interweaving the characters and their own respective stories is chance, or coincidence if you prefer.
The intervention of these such coincidences manages to keep the film going.

The director Mike Nichols (The Graduate), is trying to take a look at modern day relationship and shed some insight perhaps and maybe wave a little artistic wand too.

Here is where I change my tune. What I have said so far sounds like a terrible film. Trust me, that is way off the mark.
This film is one of the most moving and compelling pieces of cinema that I have seen in a long, long time. Perhaps it is because it strikes a chord and maybe hits a little close to home.
The film is littered with infidelity, whether impulsed acted upon or merely implied and you could be forgiven for thinking that this is shallow or soulless, well that is simply incorrect because why would the director of the piece choose to show that all of the potential love in the film turned sour and ultimately betrayal ruined everything that was good.
This is an uncompromising looking glass view of modern relationships; And while we all know that there is plenty of faithful, loving relationships out there, we also surely realise that in the modern era of the quick fix, morals are often too freely thrown out of the window.

This film was by no means pleasant or comfortable viewing. I felt horrible watching it, but it was the compelling nature of it that enabled me to finish the viewing. It was a beautiful but completely unsettling film that I would urge anyone to watch and give their full attention.

The performances of the main stars were all competent, Portman was in particular outstanding in her lost soul role. I did wonder perhaps whether Clive Owen was over-hamming his role a little but who am I to argue!

The whole melancholy feel is completely encaspsulated by the soundtrack song 'Blowers Daughter' by Damien Rice. A bittersweet little tune that seems to fit right along with the way the film reaches its conclusion.

So look past the seemingly odd premise, look past the bevvy of huge hollywood film stars and settle yourself in for an intellectually stimulating, emotionally testing and cleverly filmed drama. Caution: May leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

If you are looking to purchase the film then it is available on play.com for the meagre price of £4.99. Whether this is your type of film or not, at that kind of price then I would expect that you would get good value for money.