attention to sex, and lots of it

Rating: 5/10 (18 July 2005)

Legendary director Mike Nichols turns his attention to sex, and lots of it, in the highly controversial Closer. The entire cast is full of Academy Award nominees and winners including Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, and Clive Owen (rumored to be the next James Bond). The story revolves around four strangers who make one another's lives miserable as they continually love and cheat on one another. This is a very chatty film, but luckily for Nichols the screen writing by Patrick Marber is so jaw-dropping that it could keep the focus of an auditorium full of attention deficit disorder teens for the entire hour and forty minutes.
All four bring very different personalities to their characters, some who lead a false existence and others that are so brutally honest with one another that it is scary. It seems like an ultimate showdown between real and fake in the dangerous game of commitment. I love the overall message and tone of the film, as Nichols shows how easy it is to love and even easier to lose.
I couldn't help but shake my head at some of the things I heard from this film, some of it actually making me laugh because of its excessive use. Of all the talent, I was surprised by Julia Roberts the most in this film. You just don't expect her to be as controlled and fragile as she is in this role. But, it's Julia Roberts, and she pulls it off. All of the unfaithfulness seems to take a shot at the "flighty" high school and college generation we live with.
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy. Boy and Girl move in together. They cheat on each other. Boy and Girl hate one another. Repeat.