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Back Shelf Beauties
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Closer All of those commercials are very enticing, but think again before buying a few tickets to Closer. This movie is trying so hard to be overwrought and melodramatic someone forgot to tell us a story, but it has plenty of emoting and yelling and longingly staring into each other's eyes as the actors all try to win Oscars. Whatever you do, don't take a date or significant other because this movie is bound to inspire uncomfortable discussions about what you would do in this situation. That can't be good for anyone. Jude Law stars as Daniel - an obituary writer in London who is walking down the street on his way to work when he sees Alice (Natalie Portman) walking towards him. As she steps out to cross the street, Alice is hit by a car, but Daniel is there to play the hero and take her to the hospital (I NEVER meet women like that, you know she's going to want him after taking her to the emergency room, that's like 5 dates in one). Of course, they fall in love, and he writes a book about her. When having his official photo shoot for the book's backcover, Daniel falls for the photographer, Anna (Julia Roberts). The problem? He's living with Alice. Can Daniel stay faithful to Alice? Will Anna fall for Daniel? Believe me, those questions are the tip of the iceberg. Closer is a Merry Go Round of lust as Daniel falls for Alice, then Daniel falls for Anna, then Anna starts to date Larry (Clive Owen), then Larry might be falling for Alice. With all of these breakups, get-togethers and intense discussions about fidelity and sex, I thought I had wandered back into freshman year of college where every relationship lasts until the next kegger. Closer could have been saved, but I was driven crazy by how it was structured by director Mike Nichols. Developed from a play by Patrick Marber (who also provides the screenplay), Nichols films the movie like a play instead of making a movie. We go from scene to scene depending on the characters to reveal major, shocking information instead of seeing it happen. This technique drains the drama and anticipation out of the film. We lose track of time throughout Closer, which spans 4 years, and don't see some of the biggest betrayals and major plot twists. SHOW ME who is having an affair with whom! SHOW ME the tender moments that draw the characters together! SHOW ME the heartbreaking betrayals! Instead, characters throw out a line of dialogue to explain a year's worth of developments like it isn't as important as watching them leer at the betrayer. While Nichols could have provided a more visually impressive movie with all of the scenes I mentioned above, Marber writes a script that is full of wonderful dialogue at times. Exchanges between Daniel and Alice, as well as Daniel and Anna, are full of great one-liners you wish you could think of when speaking to someone of the opposite sex, and many of the fight scenes are daring, if not outright shocking. My biggest problem with an overall good script is some of the stark, nasty language used when discussing sex. Marber is trying to shock us and show us the ugly side of some characters, which he accomplishes, but I think you will be begging for some characters, like Larry, to stop once they make the point. While Law and Roberts are the big stars, Owen and Portman put in the best and most memorable performances. Portman is captivatingly vivacious and flirty early on, then heartbreaking as we watch her struggle with the relationship's difficulties. Like a true Hollywood star, members of the audience are fixated on her in every scene, no matter who shares the screen with Portman (and not just because she is super duper hot and I love her. She's a good actress). Owen is equally captivating for very different reasons (I don't love him or think he is super duper hot. Kinda rugged, but not hot). He has to play a repugnant, pig of a man, yet make us believe Anna would somehow fall for Larry. Owen finds the character's rage when needed, and shows his romantic side, even though it's hard to believe Larry has one. As my colleague Arch Campbell and I discussed after the movie, Closer is about 10 - 15 minutes too long and hits us with one last, long battle before finally letting us leave the theater. It felt like overkill to an audience already beaten by the brutality of it all. I hope Closer doesn't win an Oscar, or I'll have to see 10 more like it next year. 1 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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