A witty, romantic,
and very dangerous love story about chance meetings, instant
attractions, and
casual betrayals. CLOSER is director Mike Nichols' critically
acclaimed look at four strangers - Julia Roberts, Jude Law,
Natalie Portman and Clive Owen - with one thing in common: each
other.
CRITIQUE
Closer is one
of my top thirteen favorite movies of 2004 for several reasons.
Patrick Marber's adaptation of his own play translates beautifully
onto the screen. The four characters come alive through smart and
realistic dialogue, and throughout the story become people we care
about even though they do and say mean things to each other. The
script is divided into three acts, each one dealing with different
situations for the characters. First they meet, then they cheat,
and lastly they reconcile or break off. It seems simple, and the
story is basically that, but what saves the script and the movie
from becoming a familiar drama about people who cheat is the frank
and serious conversations the characters have, and also the how
the characters interact and react. Above all, though, is that the
relationships between the four characters becomes interesting to
watch and see how they unfold.
Just as important
are the terrific performances by the four stars. With such a
minimal cast of characters, and the absence of a supporting cast
is evident while watching the movie, the actors make their
characters compelling and dark at the same time. They command the
screen and hold the interesting of the audience. The interesting
thing about the performances is that Natalie Portman and Clive
Owen overshadow their co-stars by a good margin; their characters
are just more interesting, which is most likely due to the fact
that they are the ones being cheated on by their partners.
Portman's scene with Jude Law (Dan) as he tells her he's been
cheating on her is very emotional. She really pours out her
emotions, crying and feeling desperate to be loved.
On the other end is
Clive Owen, whose character Larry just got home from a trip to New
York only to find out his partner, Anna (Julia Roberts), is
cheating on him, mere hours before his return, no less. Owen's
performance as he tries to make sense of this information and
interrogate Anna is filled with desperation and hurt. His anger is
directed at her, but he doesn't go overboard, instead he berates
her with questions about her sexual experience trying to make her
feel guilty. And when he finally gets the truth out of her he
makes a pretty nasty statement. Moreover, Portman and Owen share a
great scene in a strip club, it involves a very frank and sexually
charged conversation, not to mention Portman looks astonishingly
beautiful wearing suggestive clothing and a pink wig. The
screenshot below was taken during one of the scene's more tamer
moments as Portman appears in more suggestive poses.
Closer
wouldn't be what it is without director Mike Nichols, who makes so
many of the scenes work and collaborates very well with the key
crew. The cinematography by DP Stephen Goldblatt is great and the
sets look beautifully it, the production design by Tim Hatley is
effective, and the editing by John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmelen
and costume design by Anne Roth are noteworthy. Closer is a
powerful drama that inspects the lives and feelings of four
characters during a person's most vulnerable time: being in love.
Another thing worth
mentioning is a pretty funny scene (which, interestingly, is cut
to classical music) early in the movie when Dan logs onto a sex
chat room pretending to be Anna and starts a steamy conversation
about sex with Larry, the unsuspecting doctor who's on break. The
dialogue describes graphic sex acts, but Nichols, as well as Law
and Owen who act in the scene, handle the material well.
THE VIDEO
Sony presents
Closer in 1.85:1 anamorphic
widescreen. This Superbit presentation looks terrific with crisp
and vibrant colors, as well as sharp definition and smooth detail.
There aren't any major flaws with the picture, although I noticed
very tiny specks during a few scenes (but they are hardly
noticeable and don't distract at all). Grain is minimal and black
levels look quite good. Overall a very good presentation.
Hey Clive, I
think we should switch places.
THE AUDIO
Sony presents
Closer in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. Dialogue is very clear
and easy to understand. The sound effects and music are nicely
reproduced across all speakers, although surround sound is not
evident in every scene. Sound from the front speakers is loud and
clear, and free of noise.
THE EXTRAS
This is a Superbit
release and therefore no extras are included. But wait, what's
this? Included is a music video for Damien Rice's "The Blower's
Daughter". I remember when Superbit meant no extras
whatsoever. To further contradict Superbit philosophy, there are a
series of trailers for Guess Who, Bewitched,
Hitch, Spanglish, House of Flying Daggers,
The Woodsman, A Love Song for Bobby Long, and Closer.
FINAL THOUGHTS
There's no doubt
Closer is highly recommended, but this DVD only comes
recommened because it's a barebones release. A special edition
should appear sometime in the future, but I can only hope Sony
won't make us wait
too long.
On a related note,
as of this writing, there is still no date for a new version of
Adaptation after its Superbit/barebones release on May 20,
2003. But a late 2005 release is possible.
