Closer

Closer

3/12/2004 1h 44m 6.8/10

Overview

The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

Director

Mike Nichols

Top Billed Cast

Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman

Alice

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts

Anna

Colin Stinton

Colin Stinton

Customs Officer

Jude Law

Jude Law

Dan

Clive Owen

Clive Owen

Larry

Nick Hobbs

Nick Hobbs

Taxi Driver

Reviews

CinemaSerf

CinemaSerf

4/21/2024

7/10

Writer "Dan" (Jude Law) likes to spend his evenings, when not with his American girlfriend "Alice" (Natalie Portman), teasing other blokes on sex-chat sites. One night he sets up doctor "Larry" (Clive Owen) with a promise to meet at the aquarium with "Anna". The horned up physician duly turns up, only to discover that meantime "Dan" has vengefully despatched the real "Anna" (Julia Roberts) - his part time lover/photographer, to unknowingly meet him instead. Embarrassed looks, sighs and "Larry" feels like a prat but, maybe the outwardly rather aloof "Anna" is interested? What now ensues is all a bit entertainingly far-fetched as an unwitting ménage-à-quatre emerges, becoming increasingly more intimate, then loving, then manipulatively toxic. Are any of these people destined to find happiness with any of the others. Quite frankly, do they deserve it and do we care? I've always found Owen as wooden as a washboard, but here - especially sharing the screen with an on-form Portman, he actually seems to be able to act (a little). His character, I found, comfortably the most odious of the four. Portman is the star of the show, though. Her portrayal of the needy sex kitten vacillates from provocative to desperate with a compelling ease. There's frequently some vitriol in the writing and the juggled storylines well paced as this story of unlikeable people moves along quickly. I think this might work well on stage, it has a characterful intensity to it, but on screen it's well worth a watch - even if it's all a pretty grim appraisal of human behaviour.

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