Film review: Closer

[tamaranth]

I came out of Closer quite depressed by it: what a bleak film, what a joyless take on modern love, etc etc. Quite enough to put one off the whole notion of relationships, really: and certainly not a film to cheer anyone who's feeling romantically vulnerable.

Took me a while to work out why it'd bothered me so, and the answer turned out to be connected with which character I identified with (this varied during the course of the film). Once I'd understood that -- and winced ruefully at the realisation -- I could step back, and find the film amusing, accomplished and extremely well-acted. There are only four characters (this started life as a play, and I'd like to see it staged with a good cast) and their interrelations, successes and failures -- and breaking-points -- are quite different and yet interlinked. I don't think I liked any of them as individuals, but then the format of the film didn't give much room for them to be three-dimensional: did they have hobbies, interests, favourite bands, favourite books, pets, families ...? The film wasn't about those, it was about love and sex, with a few employment details.

I'm not going to go into detail about the plot, except to say that it's extremely well-observed and doesn't provide easy answers. Londoners will have fun spotting locations, and wondering why they're getting that bus if they're going from point A to point B. Or perhaps I'm just obsessed with detail.

Most fun: Larry (Clive Owen) first encountering Dan (Jude Law).
Most improbable (general): no mention, at any point, of safe sex / HIV.
Most improbable (location): Dan, a journalist, has a flat next door to Smithfield Market. (But perhaps he won the Lottery, and simply forgot to mention it?)
Lingering Effect: it'll be a while before I can visit the London Aquarium without giggling nervously.
Reminiscent of: my Friends page a Martin Amis novel, without the intellectual elitism.

Comments

[greengolux.livejournal.com]

My feelings about Closer are pretty similar to your initial ones, but less strong. I think part of the problem I had with the film was that I just didn't relate to any of the characters, really, or any of the relationships portrayed. I certainly didn't like any of them either.

Londoners will have fun spotting locations, and wondering why they're getting that bus if they're going from point A to point B. Or perhaps I'm just obsessed with detail.

No, I did that too, and was quite pleased to be able to do so, knowing I wouldn't have known London well enough to have spotted such things even 12 months ago.

[the-gardener.livejournal.com]

Londoners will have fun spotting locations, and wondering why they're getting that bus if they're going from point A to point B.

I tend to pick up on this, too, and am usually annoyed by it because the journeys in question have been constructed to appeal to the tourist market: to show off the bits of London that overseas visitors might want to see, irrespective of (and often ignoring) the actual connections (or lack of) between them. Such as (say) a character walking across Westminster Bridge with Big Ben visible in the background and then entering Canary Wharf Underground station. I fume silently in my cinema seat, every time.

[pmcmurray.livejournal.com]

I wasn't planning on seeing this film anyway, didn't sound like my kind of thing and I can't stand Julia Roberts - one of those unreasoning prejudice things. I also heard the language was pretty foul though I may be confusing it with another film.

So sounds like a movie to skip then?

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

It does have quite a bit of swearing, frank (and crude) talk about sex, etc. It's an interesting film -- though not necessarily a cheerful one -- and Julia Roberts is playing an atypical character, to the extent that I hardly recognised her at first.

[spride.livejournal.com]

Then go see Un long dimanche de fiançailles (http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0344510/)/A Very Long Engagement and restore your faith in such things.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Point I was making was not that the initial impression was a reason not to see it, but that it made me think: which is a good thing.

[marypcb.livejournal.com]

reminiscent of... snurk ;-)