"I can't take my eyes off you"

Rating: 7/10 (13 December 2005)

The first minutes of "Closer", which involve two individuals staring at each other at the rhythm of a song that reminds me of the woman I love are so tender; so captivating, that they make you think you're going to watch the most romantic movie of your life. The thing is you're not.
It's beyond imagination where words go, or what words can do. If "Closer" knows about something, it's about words. About how to say them, when, and of course, inevitably, why. Patrick Marber's screenplay is brilliant, even when his words are far from spontaneity, because the only point is that they are spoken.
When Alice (Natalie Portman) talks to Dan (Jude Law) for the first time, she only speaks two words: "Hello stranger". This will be a trademark for the whole film and in other words, a reminder or a sign that actually every word counts. Later on, Alice asks Dan, a frustrated writer who writes obituaries that include euphemisms, to tell her what would her euphemism be: "She was disarming", he says.
The other two characters (there are only four characters in the film) are Anna (Julia Roberts) and Larry (Clive Owen), who meet accidentally on purpose and fall in love, then get married. On the other hand Alice and Dan live together, love each other; actions simply described that lie in the standards of life.
But "Closer" doesn't like simple, and explores each detail of these standards so profoundly, so intensely, in a way I've never experienced in a movie before. Yes, there are lot of movies of this type, but "Closer" was a play, therefore there's no sense of time in the movie, which makes it shameless.
And shamelessly, characters come and go whenever they please. Shamelessly they fall in love lots of times and they do it very fast; shamelessly they screw each other so constantly that they don't even notice it, and disgracefully speak at each other with words that touch even the silence that embraces them.
So I go back to my main argument, because this movie is about love, but no in the lovable way, because you can't love the characters because of their actions; there's not even one of them that seems to be doing things right. And you certainly can't love the film, that is good but leaves you unsatisfied and empty when it's over.
However, there are things you can love; like the performances. This is the kind of movie where actors get the chance of showing off, taking big risks and carrying their talents to the maximum level. Natalie Portman takes every chance, in what's her most skillful and complete portrayal. Julia Roberts is at the top of her game (like if we didn't know she's a superstar), Jude Law reminds us how moving an actor can be, while Clive Own creates, dedicatedly, the film's most sympathetic and concerned character.
You can also love Mike Nichols, because the credit is not all Patrick Marber's; and the German director, with 72 years at that time, directed his actors amazingly, in all these different places, these silences and musical moments, close-ups and still shots, maintaining his reputation of commitment with the work.
"And so it is, just like you said it would be, life goes easy on me, most of the time". You will find the movie hard to follow, because it becomes tedious and repetitive in occasions. It's not great, but it's confident and sure, as you will be after watching it, at least about one thing: that love hurtsA lot.