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$2.50 Reviews:
Closer
<img height=400>http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/poster16.png
The characters in Closer are very quizzical in nature. What I mean by this is that they ask more questions of one another than any other characters do in any other film I can recall watching. Often times, question after question will be asked, sometimes going on for minutes at a time. These aren't interviews either; these are just people having a conversation with one another.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="The four lead actors." Align="left"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/closer10.jpg[/Img_Inline]
There are good reasons for these questions to be asked, I have no doubt about that. It doesn't feel realistic though. There are times in which questioning another character about something they have or haven't done doesn't seem like the best course of action to take. There are many of these times, as a matter of fact. People often don't act in ways you would expect them to. This makes them all the more interesting.
The first two characters we meet are Dan (Jude Law) and Alice (Natalie Portman). They are about to converge upon a street intersection, and while looking straight ahead, their eyes meet. And they stay met. Long enough for Alice to not notice that the street sign says "don't cross". She gets hit by a car. She's okay though, being taken to the hospital by the man whom she only just laid eyes upon. Dan's a funny guy, but she's equally as sharp. Within a few, short, sentences, we wish to learn more about these characters.
We meet our third character a few minutes later, although the film tells us it has been a few months. (This is actually one of the few things that I disliked about the film: Its constant fast-forwarding of time). Her name is Anna (Julia Roberts), and she's a photographer. She's taking Dan's photograph, as he has written a novel recently. She read the novel, and liked it. Dan, despite being in a relationship with Alice, wants this new woman as well. He gets rejected even though he obtains a kiss. Alice finds out. There's our first real bit of tension, and it happens mere moments into the film.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="170" Caption="Admit it: You want hair like that." Align="right"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/portma10.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Our final character also first chats with Dan, although online, and he doesn't know it is him. Dr. Larry (Clive Owen) is first shown to us while chatting in a cybersex chat room. Dan is on the other end, posing as Anna. He does a good job too, convincing Larry to meet her at an aquarium. Imagine Anna's surprise when Larry begins talking to her, without her ever having contact with him.
Now that the characters are established, or at the very least, introduced, director Mike Nichols can begin showing their lives being torn apart. And what a job he does with this. The way these characters are depicted, as well as the paths they take -- they're devastating. But never familiar, which is probably the most intriguing thing about Closer.
As I mentioned earlier, the characters in Closer don't act within conventional means. They lie when they should tell the truth, tell the truth when lying makes more sense, cheat on one another with regular frequency, and never seem to think about the consequences of their actions. Or maybe they do, and choose not to care about the impact that they'll have on others. The characters are all selfish, in one way or another, looking out just for themselves.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="177" Caption="Let's keep this review classy." Align="left"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/g2405110.jpg[/Img_Inline]
What this means for the film is that there isn't a great emotional attachment to the characters. They don't act in any way sympathetic, meaning that when things go poorly for them -- and things often don't go well for these people -- you don't care. You begin to wonder if it isn't just their fault that things have turned sour, and that since they wouldn't care if other characters wind up doing poorly, you don't care if they do. This means that a lot of the drama later on in the film fails to resonate much with you, and the only thing keeping you intrigued is how interesting each character is.
I suppose you could call Closer one of those few dramas that works well without getting you emotionally involved. It certainly requires you to think, as by the time the film concludes, you'll want to go over each of the characters' actions, and decide for yourself who, if anyone, was the victim. I don't believe any character is truly innocent, with everyone having both positive and negative aspects. Some, and I won't ruin who, are worse than others, of that I am certain, but even after a large amount of time has gone by, I still cannot determine precisely who I disliked the most. But it stayed on my mind for that much time, which to me says that it is a largely successful film.
I can't call Closer an emotional rollercoaster, but I wish that I could. It has everything that it needs to be one, but without having an emotional attachment to its characters, I didn't feel much emotion while watching it. It's intriguing, interesting and intelligent, while also having immoral, irrational and idiotic characters. And because I still have a few more words beginning with "i" to throw around, it is also impeccably inconsiderate due to its intense, imperfect characters constantly becoming irate because of some impatient and insane indecisiveness.
<color=D6D9DA>_________________________________________________________________________________
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$2.50 Reviews:
Closer
<img height=400>http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/poster16.png
The characters in Closer are very quizzical in nature. What I mean by this is that they ask more questions of one another than any other characters do in any other film I can recall watching. Often times, question after question will be asked, sometimes going on for minutes at a time. These aren't interviews either; these are just people having a conversation with one another.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="159" Caption="The four lead actors." Align="left"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/closer10.jpg[/Img_Inline]
There are good reasons for these questions to be asked, I have no doubt about that. It doesn't feel realistic though. There are times in which questioning another character about something they have or haven't done doesn't seem like the best course of action to take. There are many of these times, as a matter of fact. People often don't act in ways you would expect them to. This makes them all the more interesting.
The first two characters we meet are Dan (Jude Law) and Alice (Natalie Portman). They are about to converge upon a street intersection, and while looking straight ahead, their eyes meet. And they stay met. Long enough for Alice to not notice that the street sign says "don't cross". She gets hit by a car. She's okay though, being taken to the hospital by the man whom she only just laid eyes upon. Dan's a funny guy, but she's equally as sharp. Within a few, short, sentences, we wish to learn more about these characters.
We meet our third character a few minutes later, although the film tells us it has been a few months. (This is actually one of the few things that I disliked about the film: Its constant fast-forwarding of time). Her name is Anna (Julia Roberts), and she's a photographer. She's taking Dan's photograph, as he has written a novel recently. She read the novel, and liked it. Dan, despite being in a relationship with Alice, wants this new woman as well. He gets rejected even though he obtains a kiss. Alice finds out. There's our first real bit of tension, and it happens mere moments into the film.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="170" Caption="Admit it: You want hair like that." Align="right"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/portma10.jpg[/Img_Inline]
Our final character also first chats with Dan, although online, and he doesn't know it is him. Dr. Larry (Clive Owen) is first shown to us while chatting in a cybersex chat room. Dan is on the other end, posing as Anna. He does a good job too, convincing Larry to meet her at an aquarium. Imagine Anna's surprise when Larry begins talking to her, without her ever having contact with him.
Now that the characters are established, or at the very least, introduced, director Mike Nichols can begin showing their lives being torn apart. And what a job he does with this. The way these characters are depicted, as well as the paths they take -- they're devastating. But never familiar, which is probably the most intriguing thing about Closer.
As I mentioned earlier, the characters in Closer don't act within conventional means. They lie when they should tell the truth, tell the truth when lying makes more sense, cheat on one another with regular frequency, and never seem to think about the consequences of their actions. Or maybe they do, and choose not to care about the impact that they'll have on others. The characters are all selfish, in one way or another, looking out just for themselves.
[Img_Inline width="275" height="177" Caption="Let's keep this review classy." Align="left"]http://i29.servimg.com/u/f29/16/09/70/40/g2405110.jpg[/Img_Inline]
What this means for the film is that there isn't a great emotional attachment to the characters. They don't act in any way sympathetic, meaning that when things go poorly for them -- and things often don't go well for these people -- you don't care. You begin to wonder if it isn't just their fault that things have turned sour, and that since they wouldn't care if other characters wind up doing poorly, you don't care if they do. This means that a lot of the drama later on in the film fails to resonate much with you, and the only thing keeping you intrigued is how interesting each character is.
I suppose you could call Closer one of those few dramas that works well without getting you emotionally involved. It certainly requires you to think, as by the time the film concludes, you'll want to go over each of the characters' actions, and decide for yourself who, if anyone, was the victim. I don't believe any character is truly innocent, with everyone having both positive and negative aspects. Some, and I won't ruin who, are worse than others, of that I am certain, but even after a large amount of time has gone by, I still cannot determine precisely who I disliked the most. But it stayed on my mind for that much time, which to me says that it is a largely successful film.
I can't call Closer an emotional rollercoaster, but I wish that I could. It has everything that it needs to be one, but without having an emotional attachment to its characters, I didn't feel much emotion while watching it. It's intriguing, interesting and intelligent, while also having immoral, irrational and idiotic characters. And because I still have a few more words beginning with "i" to throw around, it is also impeccably inconsiderate due to its intense, imperfect characters constantly becoming irate because of some impatient and insane indecisiveness.
<color=D6D9DA>_________________________________________________________________________________
If you are a fan of my reviews, and want to boost my ego receive notifications when new reviews are posted, or find an old review, please join/visit this <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/groups/view/2-50-Reviews>user group.
