Love as a Weapon

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2005)

I went into this movie expecting the clichés of adultery and heartbreak. I expected one of the characters to emerge as most sympathetic, and the others to rank in order of unkind to detestable. I thought there would be some semblance of closure by the end. I expected a careful re-tooling of cinematic stand-bys.
For better or for worse, "Closer" offered none of that.
People are often comparing this to Nichols' first feature film, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a brilliant four-character drama full of dark humor and human cruelty. I found the greatest similarity to be the study of the way people play games, and how the games can go on, twisting and turning. While in "Virginia Woolf," they are intentional games ("Get the Guests," "Hump the Hostess") and go on for a series of hours, the games in this film are subtler, more quietly calculated, and go on for years.
While I think "Virginia Woolf" is a near-flawless film, "Closer" is worth a first and definitely second look. This is an easily unlikable film, at times a miserable experience. Very shortly into the movie, it is clear that these four people are doomed to an unhappy ending. Just in the way that Dan meets Alice and Anna meets Larry, and then how Anna and Dan meet, and then how Alice and Larry meet. The connections are foreshadowing of the relationships that stem from them.
Alas, despite all of this, it's an intriguing, original experience. We don't seen this kind of bravery in mainstream cinema very often. These are complex characters who earn our sympathy and then break our trust as viewers. I don't want to give too much away; I had very little idea of what would happen when I went into this, and I think that enhances the experience.
The acting may be the best thing to focus on. All four main characters are played brilliantly. Natalie Portman has received well-earned recognition for her performance, which is sad and funny and heartbreaking all at the same time. There is one very telling scene between Alice and Dan, where he delivers some terrible news, and she goes through a spectrum of reactions, each handled and transitioned into beautifully. She is the emotional heart of the story.
Jude Law gives the kind of performance I think people expect of him. He's charming at times, weak-hearted at others. Desperate, yearning, detached, completely incapable of true intimacy. Like Portman, he hits all of these notes seamlessly. Danny is the kind of man you sigh and shake your head at a lot, thinking both, "Why is he doing this?" and "Why am I forgiving him?" He has this affect on everyone in the film.
Clive Owen is simply amazing as the most tortured of the foursome. He's brutish misery has such presence; his eyes say so much. There is a fantastic confrontation between Larry and Anna which displays all of this so well. He's the kind of character you find yourself fearing and pitying. He's reminiscent of Richard Burton in "Virginia Woolf," an obviously very weak man at heart who, still, is capable of the cruelest acts.
I feel like Julia Roberts gets sort of overshadowed in this movie, but I have to say, considering the roles she usually plays, this was the bravest she's ever been. In the scene mentioned above with Larry, she reaches an emotional height at the climax of their argument which I feel we've never seen from her before. She is like an animal finally lashing out. And her final shot in this movie is quite heartbreaking. A fine choice of actress--a woman who appears to be a force to be reckoned with, playing a woman who is so absolutely feeble at heart. To return to "Virginia Woolf," seeing Roberts in a role like this was like seeing Elizabeth Taylor in a role like Martha. Certainly it is less dramatic (and traumatic) a transformation, but just as intriguing.
If anything, see this film because it's not what you think it is. But don't see it on a first date. It is often-repeated advice in regards to this movie, but I must agree here. This is a bitter film, faithless about love and humanity. Not very positive omens for a burgeoning relationship.