characters difficult to like do even more unlikeable things

Rating: 2/10 (15 November 2004)

i just got back from a screening of Closer, which was followed by a Q&A with Mike Nichols. while i could tell that there was a lot of craft in this movie and each of the 4 main actors pulled out marvelous performances, i couldn't bring myself to like the movie overall. Nichols' discussion afterwards only made it more difficult for me to like it.
without giving spoilers: if you don't care about caring about your characters by the end of the movie, then you will probably enjoy the film a good deal. a manipulative young woman meets a pathologically insecure man who subsequently meets a coldhearted photographer who then meets a cruel, selfish, and conniving dermatologist. each of the characters becomes slightly more sympathetic in the first course of their story arc, and then get more and more horrible as the movie grinds on.
each of the characters pull out incredible performances - i really believed Clive Owen was that dreadful for the course of the movie, and that Jude Law could be that pathetic. Julia Roberts showed unprecedented emotional range, in my opinion, and Natalie Portman really was a shining jewel of talent. unfortunately, the actors made it more impossible for me to escape how much the characters bothered me, and how little the storyline offered.