Closer

Maximilian · 27-01-2005 5:54pm #1

Didn't know much about this film and really felt annoyed my gf was dragging me to see what I thought was going to be a b!tchflick but man was I wrong. Fantastic movie. Great script, really witty & funny. Acting is excellent. Clive Owen is just great in it. Natalie Portman wants my babies. I'm doing a special offer this week. The Lost in Translation of 2005 kind of. Go see!

Basq · 27-01-2005 5:57pm

Wanted to see it when i first heard of it..

But heard nothing but bad things... i'll wait for the video!

Reef · 27-01-2005 8:38pm

Maximilian wrote:

Didn't know much about this film and really felt annoyed my gf was dragging me to see what I thought was going to be a b!tchflick but man was I wrong. Fantastic movie. Great script, really witty & funny. Acting is excellent. Clive Owen is just great in it. Natalie Portman wants my babies. I'm doing a special offer this week. The Lost in Translation of 2005 kind of. Go see!

I bet you're like Clive Owens character in real life are ya?!

Maybe it's cuz I'd be a bit of a 'romantic' :rolleyes: but I just hate any film that portrays relationships like that. Yes, I do realise there's plenty of relationships like that but I'd rather live in my own naive bubble.

Bright Smile · 28-01-2005 12:52am

its the best film i ever sawed in my wholest life...seriously- script, acting...how you are an observer in the film not a participant- your meant to just observe and not empathise ....its relaxing and astounding all at once. superb us of soundtrack and sound in general, i want to go again.....it gave me so much food for thought on how things are- its one of those films where you feel as though you have been changed....i loved it, quite obviously!

mad m · 28-01-2005 2:42am

When i first seen it i was knocked back a bit from the brutal seriousness/language between the couples,but the more i thought about the film afterwards the more i liked it.

monkeyfudge · 28-01-2005 11:33pm

I saw it yesterday.

I wasn´t too crazy about it. No one talks the way the characters in that film do. It´s all verbal ping pong, back and forth... some of it is pretty funny... but it just doesn´t feel normal.

Also,

why was everyone so interested in Julia Roberts? Her character was such a flake..

Ardent · 31-01-2005 4:47pm

monkeyfudge wrote:

It´s all verbal ping pong
[/SPOILER]

Bingo! Brilliant way to describe the dialogue in the movie. Thought it was an oK movie, nothing to go dancing in the streets about.

Maximilian · 01-02-2005 1:18pm

Seems to be a bit of a loveit/hateit movie. I was just blown away by it but it seems to have left others cold.

ronano · 01-02-2005 8:39pm

I really disliked this movie and i expected good things, i felt the actors simply could not pull off the sort of acting that was needed with the exception of clive owen

mwnger · 03-02-2005 1:11am

No one talks the way the characters in that film do. It´s all verbal ping pong

You can apply this argument to all films. Do you think in real life people talk like they do in Tarantino films? It was never intended to be naturalistic I felt - very few works of drama set out to be, whether it's film/TV/theatre.

This film has had a mixed reception so I didn't know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it in the end. I would normally avoid a Julia Roberts or Jude Law movie like the plague but wanted to see this cos it was based on a play by Patrick Marber, whose co-written two of my favourite comedy programs ever - The Day Today and Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge. I definitley saw Marber's comedic background come through in this - apart from much of the dialogue being hilarious, I thought the excruciating honesty of the characters and the numerous instances of brutal humiliation very reminicent of those shows particularly Alan Partridge. Which was a good thing, and so unlike the standard sentimental crap you'd expect from a Hollywood film. I'd agree that Roberts was a bit lightweight for a role like this but I was hugely impressed by Clive Owen. I really hope he wins the Oscar for this.

Oh yeah, nice subtle twist at end as well.

MisterAnarchy · 08-02-2005 4:05pm

Watched this last night.
Had been looking forward to seeing it for a good bit but it was a huge disappointment.
The story dragged alot and the relationships seemed contrived.
There was hardly any backing music for alot of the film which gave it a weird feel.
Also Natalie Portman looks like a kid .
Could have been very good but ended up a bit of a mess.

therecklessone · 08-02-2005 10:46pm

Saw it today and absolutely loved it. Absorbed from start to finish.

Clive Owen's character made my skin crawl.

TwoShedsJackson · 13-02-2005 12:49pm

Thought I was going to hate it at the start but once Clive Owen came into it it got a hell of a lot better. Julia Roberts really gets on my tits though. Good film.

ixoy · 13-02-2005 3:58pm

Ah thought this was merely alright. Too much of the dialog came across as if it was made for a stage play, rather than words people might echo. This was evinced in Law's character in particular when he'd answer questions with one word answers, e.g. :"Cowardice" as if it made it all the more meaningful by trying to sum it one word. They didn't feel often like words real people would speak.

It didn't help that I generally disliked Law and Roberts' character. In fact I might have begun to dislike the movie if it wasn't for Clive Owen's great performance. Now he stole every scene that he was in and was, in many ways, the most likeable and rounded of the characters. Well deserving of his Oscar nod, he's endeared himself to me forever for uttering to Julia Roberts:

Now fu*k off and die, you fu*ked up slag"

.

Monkeyfudge summed it up best - too much verbal pingpong. I found "Before Sunset" a far better movie dealing with the pangs and heartbreak of love. Not particularly recommending this one.

Maximilian · 14-02-2005 4:22pm

Actually, the film was adapted from a 1997 stage play by Patrick Marber, which would explain a few things. Its still the best play to film adaptation I've seen since Glengarry Glen Ross.

I'd love to see the play.

JB123 · 15-02-2005 6:39am

Just watched it good flick Clive Owen has come on a lot.Word has it he could be the next Bond.

RE*AC*TOR · 15-02-2005 6:46am

JB123 wrote:

Just watched it good flick Clive Owen has come on a lot.Word has it he could be the next Bond.

Judging by his performance in Closer he's too good to be Bond. Much like 21 Grams last year - I think this is the acting movie of this year - but will probably be overlooked in the oscars.

Maximilian · 15-02-2005 9:29am

JB123 wrote:

Just watched it good flick Clive Owen has come on a lot.Word has it he could be the next Bond.

I think exactly the same thing - used to think he was crap. Think he's be a great Bond, in fairness. i must get Croupier out - I hear he's v. good in that too. King Arthur was a flaming bag of poo though.

ixoy · 15-02-2005 10:09am

JB123 wrote:

Just watched it good flick Clive Owen has come on a lot.Word has it he could be the next Bond.

Not according to one source - Clive Owen. He's clearly stated that he's not even been approached to play the next Bond, scuppering the rumours we've all been hearing.

Having said that, I think he'd be a good choice. He's pretty much the only good thing about "Closer" but when he's good, he's very good. He's got that "Britishness" they need and the right looks - not too scrawny, not too beefy. It'd be a shame if they don't ask him at some point.

daveg · 08-06-2005 9:22am

Saw this last night (didn't want to start a new thread). Class film. Again Clive Owen was superb as he is in any film I've seen him in. Best moment in the film:

Dan: Everybody wants to be happy.
Larry: Depressives don't. They want to be unhappy to confirm they're depressed. If they were happy they couldn't be depressed anymore. They'd have to go out into the world and live... Which can be depressing.

4/5 stars for me.

OY · 09-06-2005 2:16am

Seems to be some mixed emotions here. I have been excited about it for a long time now and still plan on seeing it. Just have not quite gotten around to it.

~Rebel~ · 10-06-2005 10:22am

Saw this last night, pretty good i thought and definate extra mention for clive owen, fantastic in it.

disillusioned · 10-06-2005 10:24am

i saw it last week and thought all the characters were dislikeable and soul-less

gaizka71 · 10-06-2005 10:26am

saw it too.
Boring... even the gf did not like it, (was her turn to choose) now it is my turn...

Miguel_Sanchez · 10-06-2005 1:07pm

Turned it off halfway through.

I don't normally do that but I just was so disinterested I thought it'd be more entertaining to go and eat a sandwich filled with rasher fat.

It was. I was right.

Closer

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