Get Ready to Get Closer

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2005)

If you have ever wanted to confront the brutal truth and lies about human relationships, then get ready to get Closer.
Be warned - this film pulls no punches and quite intentionally shocks and offends us through the script and the characters. It will relentlessly draw you in and spit you out at the end. If you want warm and fuzzy romanticism, stick to When Harry Met Sally or Ghost.
Mike Nichols takes us, so successfully, into the darkest and warmest depths of the human heart in lust and love and thrusts us into a web of relationships where identities are withheld, selflessly revealed and even emotionally raped.
This masterpiece depiction of who we are as individuals and why we are certain people to some and other people to others will command you to examine your own identity and re-evaluate your views on love, lust and relationships.
Natalie Portman's performance as Alice/Jane is spectacular from start to finish. She delivers this massively complex character to the screen with brilliance. But keep up or you will miss the diversity (and yet simplicity) of her character. Clive Owen delivers a remarkably brutal honesty as Larry. You will love and hate him at the same time.
This movie tells it how it really is. It is thought-provoking, to say the least. Where other movies have skirted around the raw and real, Closer grabs you by the scruff of the neck, slaps you in the face with a wake-up call and reminds us that these characters exist all around us, if not within us ... we just don't like to admit it or talk about it and we most certainly don't want to be confronted with it.
They are real, fake, honest, deceitful, loving, ruthless, caring, selfish, likable, loathed, unbelievable and believable. You decide! To truly enjoy this movie, I would recommend that you pay very close attention to the dialogue. Every word, sentence, action and reaction is a revelation of character. If you miss the dialogue, nothing will make sense and you will walk away from this masterpiece feeling disappointed.
Get comfortable, forget everything you think you know about relationships, put your seat-belt on and enjoy the ride of your life into the beauty and ugliness of the human spirit.
This is by far the best film I have seen. If you cannot handle the truth and you prefer to be kissed before you are slapped to a rude awakening, then steer clear of this one!