Post by Grey on Mar 21, 2005 13:00:34 GMT -5
"Have you ever seen a human heart? It looks like a fist, wrapped in blood!"
Okay, first and foremost, serving as the soundtrack that bookends the film, The Blower's Daughter kicked my ass.
Most likely than not, not a lot of people are going to enjoy Closer. Contrary to lots of other reviews I read, it's not a date movie. Unless you'll like your date (for that particular night, at the very least) to seriously reconsider the prospect of hurling him or herself into this emotionally taxing affair we called relationshits. And if you think this is going to be the usual Julia Roberts's fanfare, think again. Closer is a dark, brutally realistic, grim and gritty and generally disturbing look at love...no, it's not entirely about love. Though love definitely played an important part in mankind's folly demeanors, it is the sheer horror of basic humanity that overwhelms the boundaries of understanding.
Being not overly melodramatic, Closer intertwines the relationships between four realistically flawed individuals: Larry (Clive Owen), Alice (Natalie Portman), Dan (Jude Law) and Anna (Julia Roberts). In the course of four years, the foursome lust, hurt and betray their way through relationships, smashing each others to bits and pieces both emotionally and psychologically with no mercy whatsoever. Adapted by Patrick Marber from his 1997 play, one element that carries the four-character piece seamlessly is the witty dialogue. All four protagonists engage in seemingly endless witty banters, and hell do I mean endless. But then again, it is without a shadow of a doubt, one of the most powerful dialogue in a movie for a long time. However, the long-drawn out sequences does reminds one of its theatrical origins, though through the foursome cast's performance, remains powerful in its own rights. The lines are crackingly good, and Clive Owen definitely got the best of them ("Don't say it! Don't you f**king say "you're too good for me". I am, but don't say it."), being the most brutally honest one out of the four, with Natalie Portman a close second, as the enigmatic stripper, Alice, who is really the main female lead role in the story, as opposed to the fact that she got nominated for this role in the best supporting actress category over at the Academy Awards. Nonetheless, Jude Law looks extremely convincing in the whiny writer role (okay, I'll give him more than that, but I really hated Dan) while Julia Roberts given a more than a competent effort. The assembled cast, under the direction of Mike Nichols, managed to win the audience over despite the fact that the plot is basically gorgeous nasty bastards doing gorgeously nasty things to each other.
It's been widely discussed on the net over why it is titled "Closer". I've seen lotsa theories, some based on psychological terms, some hopelessly idealistic ("closer to a better relationship with every failed ones", fancy that). In my opinion, it's straightforward enough. I'm quite certain while watching the movie, anyone ever emotionally involved in a relationship before do gets the goosebump, the kind of feeling where you're brought closer to your past and ultimately, yourself. It just cuts closer...closer to this particular form of horror, that is better known to the world as, love.
The Verdict :