Missing Mike Nichols, Mike Nichols Missing

Rating: 9/10 (10 April 2017)

I bloody loved Mike Nichols wearing each of his different hats but primarily as a film director who was so able at blurring the line between live theater and the screen.
Monogamy is, for me, a lie - I do not believe in monogamy anymore than I believe in religions built upon confounded myths. Monogamy is the non-existent unicorn and "Closer" certainly proves my point. It isn't the lie of monogamy that kills love but rather the truths - the most intimate truths - that kill love.
In "Closer" there are intersections of love and sexual intimacies and an ending that will leave you wondering if there was ever any truth in any of these fragile relationships. Clive Owen was the critic's choice for the film but, for me, this is Jude Law's grown-up role and, sadly, Julia Roberts' swan song. But if the swan must sing, Roberts hits the high notes with grace.
I will soon complete my Mike Nichols filmography and it will be a little sad for me. He taught me Virginia Woolf and the future in plastics. In "Closer" he taught me that true love may be a compromise - or that it may be a fabrication. Maybe both.