Why are people coming down so hard on it?

Rating: Null/10 (24 January 2005)

I went to see Closer with two of my friends and both of them said they hated it cause it was too depressing, which was the whole point of the movie. People are really bashing this movie cause it's about sex, betrayal and other stuff that's not exactly moral. But the movie isn't preaching morals to anyone nor is it saying that adultery is OK. In the film, adultery is portrayed as something that comes with severe consequences and certainly doesn't promote anything- it's just depicting one situation in which these themes are involved.
The acting is great all around, especially Natalie Portman (I almost forgave the Star Wars movies) and Clive Owen (I almost forgave King Arthur). Julia is OK- she's never been my favorite but she's decent here. Saying this as a fan of Jude Law, I think his performance here is completely overshadowed by Owen and Portman. It's still good but not as good as we've seen him before (primarily Talented Mr. Ripley and Road to Perdition). He seems to do so much better in supporting roles for whatever reason.