CS Daily Archive > Weekend Read > 12-03-04

No Closer, Please

by matt anderson

Closer tracks a journalist, a photographer, a stripper, and a doctor whose lives intertwine over several years in a film full of fitfully interesting moments that never really add up to a story.

Closer

Patrick Marber
Based on his stage play

Obituary writer and budding novelist Dan (Jude Law) meets stripper Alice (Natalie Portman) after a cab hits her. Flash forward two years: Alice and Dan have been together ever since, and Dan has written a novel based on Alice's life. When Anna (Julia Roberts) photographs Dan for his novel, it's love as soon as the shutter drops. A year later Anna is with dermatologist Larry (Clive Owen) but Dan remains desperately in love with Anna, even though he's still with Alice (who is madly in love with him). Anna and Dan begin an affair that culminates with revelations to their respective partners. And then the fun really begins…

The best aspect of Closer is its focus on the raw emotional elements of relationships we don't usually see on-screen, and the way playwright- screenwriter Patrick Marber mines those moments for their full value. Debates rage not only over whether someone cheated, but where they did it, how good it was and how they feel about it now. Closer's script is filled with these moments, as well as crisp, honest dialogue and great one-liners. When Anna tells Larry, "You're wonderful," he replies, "Don't you ever forget it" -- and then she breaks up with him.

That's the best scene in the film, leading to a brutal confrontation as Anna and Larry trade insults barbed in honesty. It's a confrontation anyone who has ever been cheated on can relate to -- these are the questions you want to ask but never do. There is power here, and truth. If only all the other scenes in this film were so gutwrenching.

Because in between the great scenes are scenes that don't make it to those heights, that don't ring true to the characters or the moment, that bring the story down. And, in the end, that's all Closer is, really: a collection of scenes. There's no real narrative here. Dan's actions may drive the plot (such as it is) but "People lie, cheat, and yell" isn't a story.

Larry, the most interesting character, not only has the best lines, but also the best motivation (and therefore the only one whose actions make sense): he wants Anna, and will let nothing get in his way. The other characters are difficult to relate to, because their actions are so nonsensical. It's one thing for a writer to have his characters trade partners to reveal a theme, or even just to create conflict -- that makes for interesting viewing. But the coupling dynamics exhibited here go beyond that, stretching credibility too far, too long.

If you want to see a handful of raw, powerful, emotionally charged scenes, get Closer. But if you want a story, get in a different line at the multiplex.

Closer
Columbia Pictures
Rated R; 91 min.

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Talented but unproven, Matt Anderson is a writer from Australia who frequently drops in on Los Angeles uninvited, forcing the CS staff to deal with his many nonwriting-related escapades.
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