Don't Go for the Love Story: Possible Spoiler

Rating: 8/10 (9 July 2005)

"Closer" has been called "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf" with sex added, and that's not far off the mark. The Albee play is more about the exchange of devastating insults between the four principals, the Marber play (and movie) more about sexual interplay and treachery. In "Closer," the race among the characters to be the least attractive human being is won at the wire by Jude Law's character. In contrast to the writer (Law), professional photographer (Julia Roberts), and physician (Clive Owen), it is the stripper (Natalie Portman)who actually turns out to be the nicest of the lot, even the least promiscuous. Mike Nichols is an excellent director, and "Closer" bears his distinctive touch. Like the Albee play, "Closer" requires four matched actors, and that's ALMOST achieved here. Julia Roberts does a superb job. Clive Owen is convincingly smarmy and disagreeable. Natalie Portman proves here that, in addition to being gorgeous, she really CAN act (a proposition thrown into considerable doubt by her performance in "Star Wars 3). I'm of two minds about Jude Law. He is okay as the seducer but much less satisfactory as the loser in the game of love (okay, sex). His acting range seems incredibly narrow. Be warned: This film is about love affairs -- not about love. The viewer is asked to believe that there's love somewhere in the background of the changing relationships. But it all takes place off-screen. What's on the screen is sexual obsession -- and to hell with the human cost.