Review of Closer (2004) by Spangle — 21 Dec 2016

There is something about Closer than is entirely off-putting. It is not the fact that it is a film about four people that are, well, unsavory characters. I can handle films about people I do not care for. The problem with Closer is it feels like a 2000s drama that is soulless. I have seen this a few times before (The Reader by Stephen Daldry comes to mind immediately) and there was something about this film that made me feel as though it would not be my cup of tea. This was ultimately the case, even though I did keep an open mind while watching this film. The experience, however, is just far too hollow and director Mike Nichols' cynical look at love just feels surface deep. We all get that love is challenging and messy, but Closer is mostly unengaging and just seems to float by and offer obvious insight into the messy nature of love. That said, there are positives to Closer. As always, it is marvelously well-written for the most part and the acting is terrific. In particular, Natalie Portman steals the show, though Clive Owen turns in a good performance as well.

Showing the romantic lives of Anna (Julia Roberts), Daniel (Jude Law), Alice (Natalie Portman), and Larry (Clive Owen), the film shows the four characters swapping dates pretty consistently. Alice and Daniel sleep together. Daniel and Anna sleep together. Anna and Larry sleep together. Larry and Alice sleep together. Everybody is sleeping with each other in this film. Complementing these scenes are the people finding out their significant other slept with somebody else. Everybody cheats here and the film does have a lot to say about infidelity. For Nichols, infidelity is clearly a common act, but one that needs to be admitted to immediately. Though common, it is still disgusting, but only if you do not admit to it immediately. Case in point, Larry cheats on Anna with a hooker but tells her immediately. Meanwhile, Anna is heavily criticized for sleeping with Daniel for over a year, but never telling Larry until he brought up his infidelity. Moral of the story: cheat on your significant other, but be upfront about it and things will be alright. This is a constant thread as the people consistently want confirmation that their significant others slept with somebody else and then only get mad when they do not admit to it immediately. Other than this, Closer offers insight into how sex can be used as a weapon to hurt others, people's insatiable desire to cheat on their significant other, and how love hurts and can never be enough to keep somebody. Insightful stuff.

Closer is also plagued by its timeline. Jumping forward by years upon years at the drop of a hat, Closer lost me more than once in its timeline. All of a sudden, Daniel and Alice had just met and then, immediately afterward, it was a year later. This is where a large portion of the soullessness I mentioned previously derives from. This desire to speed things along comes at the expense of developing a connection between us and the characters. Yes, there is a lot revealed in the scenes shown, but the process of them falling in and out of love would be a lot more emotional and rewarding if we got to see more than just a highlight reel of their relationship.

This said, Closer has great dialogue. I may mock its relationship insights, but it is hard to deny that its relationships are well created in the moments we are given with them. Here, they can be powerful at times, in particular when Alice and Daniel embrace after he admits to cheating on her with Anna. This scene is very emotional and highlights the tremendous performance by Portman. Throughout, she steals the show and really puts in an emotionally raw performance. No matter the scene, she is the highlight of this film. Similarly, Owen - as a scorned lover and pervert - is brilliant. He has a natural charisma and it really shows here as he able to play such a chilly character with a cool, laid back demeanor throughout. However, he is equally adept at turning it up a notch, such as when he confronts Julia Roberts' Anna about her infidelity. An intense scene, Owen wins the scene by capturing both the anger and the pain that Larry feels in this moment as he presses her for intimate details about Anna and Daniel.

Though disappointing, Closer affords a great opportunity to watch great actors do their thing. Other than a few scenes that were noted above though, Closer lacks the emotion and insight needed to actually pull off a film of this type. None of its takes are revolutionary and instead feel entirely derivative and cliche takes on love, rather than an examination into the lives of these characters.