Intriguing, but too far removed from reality

Rating: 6/10 (3 December 2007)

Mike Nichols' 2004 cinematic comeback "Closer" seems to be really poignant at first. The cast is great, the score suits the scenes fine and the dialog is sharp and witty. The problem is, after a while "Closer" becomes obviously far removed from reality. Characters start to act real quick-witted and theatrical dialog when in real life they would just walk away from each other in anger. Couples split and then get together for no convincing reason. And if that wasn't enough one character at one point exclaims that she's just fallen out of love in one instant. Just like that. As if anyone would ever say that.
The reason why I'm so critical about this lack of total realism is that "Closer" seems so much to try to make an universally true statement about love or male-female relationships. In that aspect it doesn't quite deliver and the lines aren't as poignant as the writer wished they'd be.
That's more of a fault of the original play, though. The movie, as an adaption of that play, is fine. The cast, as I've said, is consistently great and the scene, in which Clive Owen is fooled into thinking he's having an erotic chat with a girl is one of the funniest and truest things about modern society ever put on screen. "Closer" is worth seeing for that alone. Oh, and if you happen to be a heterosexual guy, the chance of seeing Natalie Portman with very, very little on might also be an inducement for watching this movie.