Absolutely amazing movie

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2005)

This is an amazing adaptation of Patrick Marber's play by the same name, and it should be considering he wrote the screenplay as well. I was absolutely blown away by the performances in the film, especially Natalie Portman's. The way she delivers her lines perfectly captures the internal anguish and confusion she faces throughout the movie while trying to cover it up and act like a "grown woman". Amazing. I must admit that I was a little surprised that Marber left out two major plot points that were present in the play, both dealing with Portman's character. First, he eliminated the cutting scene shown in the play right after Dan tells her that he's been cheating on her. She cuts a question mark into her arm, and there's a reference to it that curiously remains in the film, when Dan tells Alice in the hotel room that she's a question mark. Second, he allows Alice (now Jane) to live at the end of the film. In the play, Alice gets hit by a car and Dan finds out this way that she is really Jane Jones. I suppose that this is because Marber wanted to end the film on a more positive note. When I saw the play, I very much felt that the focus was on Dan's development, but the movie seems to focus more on Alice's development. Thus, I can sort of understand why he would go for the redemptive ending for the movie version, but I'm very curious to know why he cut the cutting scene. As for the performances, they were all absolutely amazing. Jude Law perfectly captured the role of Dan and he delivered the somewhat heavy dialogue almost naturally (which is pretty difficult to do... try saying "You should try lying for a change, it's the currency of the world" without sounding like a complete buffoon). Clive Owen was absolutely incredible as Larry... I still don't understand how he took such a sleazy character and made him almost lovable, especially after his last scene with Dan. He's such an asshole, but you still sympathize with him. As I already said, Natalie Portman was incredible, and she is quickly becoming one of my absolute FAVORITE actresses after seeing her in this and in Garden State. Finally, Julia Roberts did an amazing job considering that she didn't have much to work with. This isn't because of Marber, but just because her character is really only there for Dan and Larry to develop as characters. But her scene with Owen in their house was incredible. She delivers the lines with such force and vigor that you cannot help but be blown away by her raw energy. I honestly think that her line "It tastes like yours but sweeter" is one of the best lines ever in cinema history. Closer was an incredible movie, and I definitely rank it among my top twenty five films of all time. Marber is a genius.