Closer [HD]

Great character study! Which one are you?
This movie is RAW. If you want a feel good, bubble gum and lollipops type of movie, this is not for you.

This is one of the BEST character studies I have seen in a long time. It's ugly, it's raw, but it's REAL and that could be why some felt so ill at ease. To like this movie is to accept that people really are this selfish and ugly-hearted. This could very well happen and that's what turns your stomach.

By far, Clive Owen owns this movie! You are disgusted by him from beginning to end, but find yourself rooting for him on several occasions, then mad at yourself that you are doing so. But then when you look at the alternative for Anna (Julia Roberts) in Dan (Jude Law), you allow yourself the moral misstep. Dan is quietly selfish and insecure. You realize early on there's an invisible bar that he's set that no one can meet or sustain.

At the end of this movie, you'll ask yourself (in regards to family, friends, and intimate relationships) are you the...

You Always Hurt The One You Love
"Closer" is a handbook about how not to act in a relationship. It is about deception in all its various permutations: lying, cheating, pretending to love someone, pretending not to love someone.
"Closer" is about anything other then actually being close. In fact "Closer" is about staying as far away emotionally from people as you can: playing games with each other, taunting each other with frank descriptions of intimate encounters and instigating brutal arguments in which the need to hurt and cut as deeply as possible is paramount.
The four involved are: Alice (Natalie Portman), Dan (Jude Law), Anna (Julia Roberts) and Larry (Clive Owen)
Adapted from Patrick Marber's play of the same name, "Closer" several times retains the artificiality of a stage play. Movies are naturalistic, the Stage is artificial and at times the screenplay and Mike Nichols direction leads the actors down the wrong path artistically: for example Julia Roberts, the warmest of screen actresses...

Sweeter
"Closer" is a heavyweight breathtaking drama that rivets the viewer's attention. The characters are not entirely likable, although each is eminently watchable. Director Mike Nichols won the Oscar for Best Director for "The Graduate" in 1967 and has been nominated 3 other times for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966), "Silkwood" (1983), & "Working Girl" (1988). Along with films like "Primary Colors" and the TV mini-series "Angels in America," he has an unparalleled ear for dialogue. No, it's not particularly pleasant. No, these are not the people your pastor hopes you will be. But each of these characters represent needs and desires that are shared by most people and are as confused by them as are many. Patrick Marber's screenplay adaptation of his stage drama is heart-wrenchingly truthful.

Of the four strong performances here, the most revelatory for me was Julia Roberts' portrayal of American photographer Anna living in London. She is selfish but has a...

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