Review of Closer (2004) by Filipeneto — 10 Oct 2021

This romantic drama is one of those movies that leaves us truly at a loss for what to write. I don't think the movie is bad, it has a lot of qualities, but it's tiring because it never gets beyond the conflicts and unresolved issues between the two main couples. It's like an ongoing relationship discussion.

The film features two couples: on one side we have the ex-American stripper Alice and Daniel, an obituary writer and potential writer; on the other we have the photographer Anna and the doctor Larry. The two couples know each other, by different casualties, and they develop cross-relationships in which the conflict and divergence are permanent. It's a complex story, in which couples switch, separate, mix, fight. It's a smart story, very well written and with excellent premises, even though there is a good deal of improbability in it all: in fact, I can't conceive of anything like this happening in real life.

The best part of this film is the excellent performance of the four main actors: Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law and Clive Owen. We can't say anything bad about any of them, they were up to the challenge put to them, they incorporated their characters wonderfully, and they did a truly remarkable job of dramatic interpretation. They are the ones who make the movie really worthwhile. Of course, they benefited from the good material they received and the really good dialogues they were given. About this, a note of warning: these are dialogues that often use and abuse heavy slang, and this should be taken into account by more sensitive audiences and young people before seeing the film.

Technically, the film has ups and downs... I really liked the cinematography, which looks somewhat ethereal and liquid thanks to a good use of color and contrast, shooting angles and London's low sunlight. The choice of filming locations also seemed happy, and the construction of sets and costumes is within what I expected. However, Mike Nicolls failed when he wasn't able to give more dynamism to the film, which is always lukewarm, slowly cooked, with a tiresome, drowsy rhythm that numbs the audience. The soundtrack doesn't help to overcome the feeling of tiredness and drowsiness, with the choice of the song "Blower's Daughter", in the monotone voice of Damien Rice, proving particularly unhappy.