‘Closer’ to porn than poetry
Grade: C
“Closer” wants to be a hip, generation-X romance, permeating with fresh, unconstrained ideals of sex and love. However, its explicitness is beyond shockingly realistic. It’s downright perverse. It’s almost X-rated in nature and would be if its perversions were visual.
Closer’s characters are witty, intelligent go-getters, who transform into the foulest of riff raff while engaging in several conversations of unfitting and nefarious verbiage.
The language during these malapropos’ conversations distract from any depth the film previously built and takes “Closer” farther away from anywhere worth ending up.
It’s not its offensiveness that prevents “Closer” from working, but it doesn’t work because it unnecessarily attempts to shock. It’s as if director Mike Nichols is seeing how much he can get away with, without caring how out-of-sequence it feels. It’s like a 1-900 phone-sex conversation in the middle of a poetry reading.
In addition, the four main characters, played by Hollywood’s A-listers all descend from likeable to despicable. The movie tempts you to empathize with their reasoning for infidelity, but their collapse of true-self and happiness, caused by selfishness and jealousy doesn’t even evoke pity. They become dark, loathsome creatures, who end up losing everything and it only feels appropriate to cheer on their self-made misery.
Daniel (Jude Law), who lives with Alice (Natalie Portman), lusts for Anna (Julia Roberts) who’s married to Larry (Clive Owen.) Daniel secretly sees Anna for a year. The two decide to tell their partners and run off together. Their partners, who take the news brutally, find each other three months later and attempt to console each other through sex. Larry later gets back with Anna, and Daniel with Alice; and oddly, their relationships aren’t what they used to be. Go figure.
The four’s personalities are quite different and the destruction of each character unique. Larry, who was likely never truly in love with Anna becomes hollow and aimless. His prideful nature is now careless and destructive and sees no method wrong in getting Anna back, no matter the cost. He demands every detail of Anna’s sexual encounters with Daniel, and seems turned on in a violent way by it. If the film had an antagonist, Larry would be it. Even though it’s Daniel who swoops in and steals his wife, Larry is villainized for his reaction to it.
Alice is Larry’s complete opposite. She’s vulnerable and caring. She’s head over hills for Daniel and expects to love him forever. She gets with Larry out of revenge only.
The film’s detail to each character is hypnotic and moving. Their reasoning and decision-making are on target with who they are; and for the first half of the film, it’s an honest tale of love, pain and suffering because of it.
But sadly, the film becomes trite and superficial, full of unneeded vulgarity and poor taste. The film itself mirrors the foul language it uses and descends quite quickly into a mire of muck.
Had the director stayed on his poetic path and continued his story of love and deception without the grotesque dialogue and smothering, out-of-place descriptions, “Closer” would have ended up a lot closer to its intentions than it did.
Jack’s Weekly DVD Recommendation:
“Rounders,” Special Edition
Miramax just released a super-packed, special edition of my favorite die-hard, poker playing miscreants. “Rounders” is to poker enthusiasts, what “Field of Dreams” is to baseball diehards. This special edition, complete with virtual poker, and tips from Texas Holdem superstars is the royal flush of DVD’s. The greatest thing about this film is in the end, Matt Damon’s Mike McDermott gives it all up to play poker for a living. The film totally conveys that McDermott’s destiny is playing cards in Las Vegas with the high rollers. If only destiny was that kind to me. In the meantime, if you know of a game, I’m all in.
Jack Saunders is a movie reviewer for the Utah Statesman. He is a junior majoring in print journalism. Comments, or movies to review may be sent to jrsaunders@cc.usu.edu.