closer movie review ebert

Closer (United States, 2004)

If you pay attention to Hollywood's romantic comedies, the interaction between men and women is all about love and companionship. If you instead rely upon the philosophy of Closer , it's all about power. Closer starts like a nice romantic drama, with a couple of "meet cutes" (as Roger Ebert calls them), then does a 180-degree turn and shows what happens when happily ever after rots from the inside out. It isn't just the relationships that curdle, but the characters. Their interaction becomes bitter and cynical. Sex is a tool used in power struggles and one-upsmanship games. Although the word "love" is mentioned a few times, it has little place in this movie, where emotions are weaknesses to be exploited by others. With Closer , director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Patrick Marber (translating his stage play) have ventured into Neil LaBute territory ( In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors ). For Nichols, this is not new terrain - he has visited here twice previously, in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Carnal Knowledge . Put those two older films together with Closer and you get a grim trilogy that doesn't have a lot of good things to say about the human condition.

On the surface, Closer is the story of two couples whose infidelities rip them apart. Dan (Jude Law) and Alice (Natalie Portman) meet on the streets of London when she is hit by a car and he comes to her rescue. He takes her to a hospital and the pair are soon living together. But Dan, an obituary writer who has penned a novel, finds himself obsessed with Anna (Julia Roberts), a photographer who takes the picture for his book jacket. He wants her, and tells her so, but she demurs when she learns he has a live-in girlfriend. "You're taken," she comments, as if that puts an end to things. Dan inadvertently introduces Larry (Clive Owen) to Anna when a practical joke (in which he pretends to be Anna in an Internet sex chat room) goes awry. The two start a romance, and are eventually married. But there's sexual chemistry between Dan and Anna, and, to a lesser extent, between Larry and Alice. Over the next four years (the film occasionally jumps forward by months in order to span that much time), infidelities occur, betrayals are discovered, and all manner of ugliness ensues. From a physical standpoint, Closer is not a violent film. From an emotional one, it's brutal. Nichols doesn't pull his punches. You leave the theater shaken.

The film is notable for its frank dialogue. There's plenty of profanity and also a host of interesting observations. (Although these characters speak with an erudition not found in conversations between real people.) Closer is talky, but in a smart way. You never feel that the characters are talking to hear their own words or to fill up screen time. Nevertheless, those unaware that the story began its life as a play will not be surprised to learn this fact. Yet the rawness of emotions keeps us from noticing how few sets there are, and how little conventional "action" occurs.

The film turns the tables on just about everyone. Users become victims, and vice versa. Innocence is corrupted, and corruption learns too late that there's no return path. Alice, who is arguably the most naïve member of the ensemble (despite being a stripper by profession), is hurt the most deeply, and that pain results in an irrevocable change. Larry, a decent guy when the film starts, turns into a cold, calculating man, having sex on at least two occasions to torment Dan. In the end, he wants to possess Anna not out of love, but because doing so means beating Dan. But to paint Dan as guiltless is unfair - he's a weasel (albeit a charming one) and an instigator. He cheats without concern for repercussions, then is astounded when any of them impact him. Anna is fundamentally weak and dishonest. She doles out and receives hurt in equal measures.

In Closer , the actors get a chance to shine, and no one is brighter than Clive Owen. Despite a number of memorable turns (and one big mistake: King Arthur ), Owen still lacks household recognition. A likely (and deserved) Oscar nomination for this performance will change that. The ferocity with which Owen delivers his lines, and the restless energy he imparts to Larry, electrifies every scene that he's in. Closer 's two most riveting sequences involve Owen and Natalie Portman - one in an art gallery where they first meet, and the other in a strip club where he has all the money but she has the power, and uses it.

Portman, in what has been called her first truly adult role (it's certainly nowhere close to Queen Amidala), is also very, very good. Like Owen, she must essay a character who undergoes a complete personality transformation - from vulnerable waif to ice queen seductress. There's a rawness and courage to her work (and, although there's no overt physical nudity due to camera placement, her scenes in the strip club are frank). The aforementioned scenes are Portman's highlights as well as Owen's, and she has one other - a heartbreaking moment in which she turns to the camera with tears on her face, and we recognize that the first piece of Alice's innocence has been stolen.

It would be unfair to describe either Julia Roberts' or Jude Law's performances as "lesser," but the two high-profile actors are not on the same level as their compatriots. Each has their moments, but neither captures the attention of the camera with the intensity of Owen or Portman. This is Roberts the actress, not Roberts the movie star (see Ocean's Twelve if you're craving for the latter), and her dedication to the role rather than glamour serves her well. Law is a little flat; I actually found him more convincing in Alfie .

Movies that look deeply into the human soul and uncover putrefaction are hard sells. But they are also some of the most fascinating films to be found. Are Nichols and Marber's characters too cynically drawn? Perhaps. Do they occasionally seem like marionettes manipulated by a clever writer? Yes. But those things don't diminish the film's compelling emotional qualities. Closer is powerful and disturbing stuff. It is not life-affirming, and it's not for those who want to leave a movie theater uplifted and convinced that fairy tale endings can happen. And this is most definitely not a date movie. But if you appreciate films that are more substance than style, that take challenges and don't follow formulas, and that feature Oscar-caliber performances, Closer is not to be missed.

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Closer Review

14 Jan 2005

Mike Nichols has always been drawn to the mysteries of sexual entanglement as expressed in rich, theatrical dialogue. In Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?, he stuck close to Edward Albee's play about a nastily complex two-couple evening; in Carnal Knowledge, he shot cartoonist Jules Feiffer's original script about two men and their contrasting attitudes to women over the decades.

Closer, scripted by Patrick Marber from his own play, could just have been a smart scrambling of these two earlier films. But it's far more than that, thanks to its fiercely distinctive voice and a powerhouse ensemble more than capable of holding its own against the much-lauded teams of Virginia Woolf (a film where the entire cast was Oscar-nominated) and Carnal Knowledge.

After the lightweight Lothario of Alfie, Jude Law's Dan is a much more involving character; restless and pathetic, sad and sadistic (his internet come-on to Clive Owen's Larry is horribly comic) and an always-crushed romantic. It's Law's best screen work to date, and he provides the anchor for awards-calibre scenes from Owen (who played Dan in the West End stage version) and an astoundingly sensual Portman (playing a pole-dancer and fulfilling the fantasies of too many sad Star Wars fans).

As for Roberts, if she's the palest of the quartet, it's because one of the most desirable women in the world invests her role with such a haunted chill you can't imagine Law leaving Portman for her or Owen being driven to such hilariously fiendish lengths to get her back. Nichols and Marber both have a background in comedy double acts, Nichols having exchanged neurotic barbs with former collaborator Elaine May and Marber having been Alan Partridge's all-purpose chat show guest. So Closer is a succession of tart two-hander sketches, strung together by wild sex and steady relationships, which skips over the months to see only the meet-cute and dissolve-ugly moments in the romantic square dance of these four people.

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Movies | 30 09 2022

The Movie Review: 'Closer'

"Flawlessly lucid"; "viciously insightful"; "quietly devastating"; "emotionally honest and psychologically dense"; "dares speak the truth about modern adult relationships." Those are a few of the phrases that were used to describe the movie Closer when it arrived in theaters late last year. Oddly, as best as I can tell, the following terms were absent from discussion of the film: "ridiculous"; "unmoored from reality"; "emotionally preposterous"; "unintentionally hilarious."

Closer , released on video today, is not a bad movie--or rather it is not merely bad. It's flamboyantly bad, bad in a way that can't help but be fascinating and even entertaining. It's well-enough executed, boasting a couple of good performances and one great one, and it's pleasant to look at. But it's also aggressively, irretrievably silly, a potty-mouthed fantasy that somehow mistakes itself for a fearless excavation of the dark recesses of the human soul, American Pie as reimagined by Neil LaBute.

Adapted by Patrick Marber from his own play, Closer follows two London couples who meet, fall in love, fall out of love, swap partners, and swap back again, in the process wounding one another in all the ways of which human beings are capable. Scratch that: The wounding is all pretty much of a single variety, specifically, being unfaithful to your (presumed) loved one and then describing the infidelity to him or her in excruciating detail. If this sounds familiar, it's probably because similar territory was plowed just a few months earlier in We Don't Live Here Anymore , a movie that shared Closer 's ludicrous belief that displaying unremitting cruelty is somehow the same thing as telling the truth. (You can read my review here .) But if the characters in the former film seemed transplanted from another decade, the characters in Closer seem transplanted from another planet. It's not just that they behave irrationally (though they do), they behave according to no recognizable set of human principles.

Take Dan, played by Jude Law. When we first meet him at the beginning of the film, he's a sweet, bespectacled, romantically timid obituary writer (think Hugh Grant in Notting Hill ) who unexpectedly falls in love with a beautiful young American named Alice (Natalie Portman) after she is hit by a car. The movie then flashes forward one year. Dan has just completed a sexually provocative novel (unmentioned in the first scene) and is being photographed for the book jacket by another beautiful American, Anna (Julia Roberts). Gone are his glasses, and with them any sign of his earlier demeanor: He's now smooth and predatory (think Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones's Diary ), putting the moves on Anna despite the fact that he now lives with Alice, who will arrive at the studio to meet him at any moment. About the only thing these two Dans have in common is Jude Law's face.

Having stolen a kiss from Anna but otherwise had his advances rebuffed (for the time being at least), Dan decides to play an unpleasant trick on her. He goes into an anonymous sex chat room on the Internet, where he encounters a deviant dermatologist named Larry (Clive Owen). Pretending to be Anna, Dan engages Larry in an X-rated dialogue and proposes a sexual assignation at a location he knows the elusive lady to frequent.

Onstage, this scene was apparently a showstopper, with Dan and Larry's raunchy exchange projected on the wall behind them. Onscreen, shorn of this gimmick, it's a strong contender for the silliest scene in a "serious" movie in the last 25 years. I'll say this once: If you are a male over the age of ten who believes that beautiful women get online to earnestly tell strange men "I love COCK" and "sit on my face, fuckboy," then you should turn your computer off right now and never turn it on again. I mean it.

Larry, having failed to receive my exceptional advice, goes to meet Anna, and finds her somewhat taken aback when he refers to her as a "cum-hungry slut." Anna, intuiting that this was all a prank set up by Dan, decides to spend the afternoon with Larry. Why? Because it's her birthday, and what better way to spend it than with a stranger about whom she knows nothing other than that he frequents pornographic websites in search of rough, anonymous sex?

In no time--literally, the film having taken another of its leaps forward--Larry and Anna are a couple, hosting a museum exhibit of her photos. Dan and Alice show up, and the former again woos Anna, whose defenses appear to be weakening. By our next temporal jump, Anna and Dan have been secret lovers for a year, though she has not allowed this detail to keep her from marrying Larry in the interim. When Dan breaks news of the affair to Alice, she cries; when Anna breaks it to Larry, he demands that she describe the flavor of Dan's ejaculate. "Like yours," she answers, "only sweeter." (Poor Julia, she never had such a filthy mouth back when she played a prostitute.)

From this point, the characters will ping-pong back and forth across the behavioral spectrum, swapping turns as villains and victims, masters and slaves. The innocent will turn out to be jaded and the jaded revealed to be innocent. I'll leave the details to the curious, except to warn of a particularly laughable scene in which Larry encounters Alice at a strip club--did I fail to mention that lovely, sweet, decent Alice is also a stripper?--to swap heartbreak stories and some more graphic sex talk. "I love everything about you that hurts," Larry confesses, moments before demanding that she drop trou, turn around, and bend over, "for my viewing pleasure."

Such ostentatious melodrama may have worked on stage, where emotional fireworks are sometimes the price of reaching people in the back rows. But the up-close medium of film requires either more subdued, realistic portrayals or an explicit admission of theatricality. What Closer needed was a director who would take it in the latter direction, recognizing that it bore no resemblance to the reality of urban romance and embracing its B-movie sleaziness. What it got instead was Mike Nichols, a director whose sense of his own cinematic daring has now outlived said daring by a few decades. Although Closer benefits from Nichols's technical command--it is inarguably a "well-made" film--it is very nearly sunk by the same self-admiring earnestness he displayed with the HBO miniseries Angels in America , another corny, out-of-date project that mistook itself for cutting edge.

That Closer manages to stay afloat, at least some of the time, is a testament to its cast. As Dan, Law digs a little deeper than he did in his dozen-odd other 2004 performances, almost finding a thread that can tie together his character's alternating recessive and assertive selves. Roberts gives a low-key, committed performance as Anna, although at times it's unclear what she's committed to . While playwright Marber makes the motivations of his male characters all too evident--varying combinations of sexual desire, sexual jealousy, sexual neediness, and sexual one-upsmanship--he seems at a loss as to why his ladies do what they do, eventually settling for the catchall explanations that Anna is a "depressive" and Alice is an impulsively self-reinventing mystery woman. (His male-centric lens is evident in a Larry line that appeared in the trailer but not the film itself: "You women don't understand the territory. Because you are the territory.")

But the great pleasure of the film, the best if not only reason to see it, is Clive Owen. He alone seems to grasp his character's fundamental ridiculousness, and he throws himself into the role with carnivorous gusto. With his big head and big hands, Owen physically dominates every scene he is in. His Larry is by turns ferocious and tender, meek and mighty, a Noble Savage for the telecommunications age. For a while now, Owen has been talked about as a possible heir to the throne of James Bond--a role in which he'd be magnificent, if only the franchise weren't some forty years removed from making films worthy of him. While Closer may not have won him an Oscar last month, his nomination was a suitable announcement of his arrival as an actor.

For all the accolades, the same cannot be said of Natalie Portman, who is the one broken link in Closer 's sexual daisy chain. The failure is not entirely her fault: Alice, like Anna, is a character whose motivations are not only largely unknown but by design unknowable, a walking argument for the inscrutability of womanhood. Moreover, it's hard to shake the impression that whoever came up with the idea of casting luminous china-doll Portman in the role of world-weary stripper has never actually seen the inside of a gentleman's club.

But Portman's disappointment extends beyond the particulars of the role. Early in her career, when she played child characters ( The Professional , Beautiful Girls ), she seemed old beyond her years. But somehow as she's graduated to adult roles she seems ever more like a child, as though she's shrinking before our eyes. (When, early in Closer , she jokingly describes herself as a "waif," the comment strikes a little too close to the mark.) Portman's tiny stature and delicate features contribute to this impression, of course, but there's more to it than that. As her star has ascended she's seemed somehow less and less touched by real life. For a while it was possible to put this off on her turn as George Lucas's child-queen. But in Closer , as in Garden State (and even her small role in Cold Mountain ), there's something disconcertingly girlish about her. She's a little too unsure of herself and eager to please, like a politician's good-girl daughter who's clever enough to recognize she's been coddled but not selfish enough to feel she deserves it. If Portman is to grow as an actress she will have to indulge herself more, forego her tentativeness and decency, and take what she wants without apology.

Closer would have been well-served had it done the same. For a movie so ardently committed to pushing the envelope, it ends rather timidly. Selfishness and deceit are punished; generosity and truthfulness are rewarded, at least relatively speaking. The final dramatic act, the slapping of a woman whom we imagine has been slapped before, is treated as a shocking, unforgivable transgression--this, by a film that has spent the previous 90 minutes engineering vicious sexual betrayals and congratulating itself on its bleak vision of the world. At Anna's photography opening, Alice describes the pictures as "a lie ... a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully." Closer is that, and less: a lie that in the end doesn't even have the conviction of its own malice.

The Home Movies List: Cruel Endings

The Third Man (1949). The last scene--the empty road, the falling leaves,     Joseph Cotton leaning against a fence as Alida Valli walks past--is among     the most bleakly beautiful of all time. Incredibly, in Graham Greene's     original script, it played the other way, with Valli taking Cotton's arm.     Thank goodness director Carol Reed had the sense to see that this story     couldn't possibly end happily.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964). Have the story and the telling     ever been more wonderfully at odds than in Jacques Demy's      masterpiece , a jaded humanist fable filled with color and music? Like     Reed, Demy was wise enough to know that the ending audiences     wanted was not one he could give them.

Get Carter (1971). A lean, vicious little film starring Michael Caine as a     hoodlum who seeks vengeance for his brother's death and finds a great     deal of it. Intoxicatingly unpleasant.

Silence of the Lambs (1991). Unique in this list, in that the filmmakers     seemed oddly oblivious to the bitterness of its conclusion. After all the     earnest urgency with which Clarice Starling sought Buffalo Bill, we're     meant to think it funny at the end that a far more frightening monster     has escaped.

The Last Seduction (1994). Crueler even than the ending of the film is     that Linda Fiorentino--who must have known, even then, that this was     the role of her lifetime--was deemed ineligible for Oscar consideration     thanks to the film's debut on HBO.

This post originally appeared at TNR.com

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FILM REVIEW

When Talk Is Sexier Than a Clichéd Clinch

By A.o. Scott

• Dec. 3, 2004

Like most interesting movies about sex, "Closer," Mike Nichols's deft film adaptation of a well-known play by Patrick Marber, is mostly talk. There are still a few filmmakers -- not all of them French -- who are capable of infusing the bodily expressions of erotic desire with dramatic force and psychological meaning, but the vast majority are content with a few moments of sheet-twisting and peek-a-boo montage.

In the past, Mr. Nichols has usually addressed sexuality with an elegant mixture of candor and discretion, and his intention in "Closer," which brings him back to the raw, needy emotions of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Carnal Knowledge," seems to be to show very little while saying a great deal. There is some display of skin: one of the characters, after all, is a stripper (another happens to be a dermatologist) and a pivotal scene unfolds in her place of work. But even that moment is less memorable for Natalie Portman's near-nudity than for the emotional self-exposure of the fully clothed Clive Owen.

The verbal intercourse that dominates that scene and every other in the film is vigorous, compulsive, sometimes painful and occasionally funny, as well as more stimulating -- for the characters, one suspects, as much as the audience -- than the physical intercourse that is its frequent subject. It is also mannered, schematic and frequently improbable, defects in Mr. Marber's play that Mr. Nichols and his strenuously engaged cast labor mightily to overcome.

Although "Closer" moves gracefully through the streets and rooms of contemporary London, it never quite shakes off the stasis and claustrophobia that haunt even the best screen adaptations of self-conscious, over-reaching serious drama. At times, the smooth naturalism of Mr. Nichols's direction emphasizes the archness and artificiality of Mr. Marber's dialogue and the unreality of the people speaking it.

Nonetheless, those people, though they are increasingly difficult to like, do manage to command a degree of curious attention. There are four of them, free-floating representatives of the disconnected contemporary tribe of wandering city-dwellers, arranged by Mr. Marber (who wrote the screenplay) and Mr. Nichols into a tight, ever-shifting grid of jealousy, longing and deceit.

The opening sequence is a barbed variation on the romantic comedy cliché of "meeting cute." Ms. Portman, playing Alice, a transplanted American, ambles along a crowded sidewalk. Walking toward her is Jude Law, whose character, Dan, is a newspaper obituary writer with literary aspirations. Their eyes lock across an intersection, into which Alice steps -- looking, as Americans will, in the wrong direction. The taxicab that knocks her down is a hulking metaphor for the narrative that follows, in which Alice and Dan -- along with Larry (Mr. Owen) and Anna (Julia Roberts), whose own cute meeting via mistaken identity and the Internet soon follows -- collide by accident, continually blindsided by one another and by their own feelings.

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Metacritic reviews

• 90 Time Richard Corliss Time Richard Corliss Funny, hurtful, splendidly acted.
• 88 Rolling Stone Peter Travers Rolling Stone Peter Travers Mike Nichols' haunting, hypnotic Closer vibrates with eroticism, bruising laughs and dynamite performances from four attractive actors doing decidedly unattractive things.
• 80 Newsweek Newsweek Here's a surprise: of the four actors in Closer, Clive Owen is the least famous, but he delivers the most memorable performance.
• 80 New York Magazine (Vulture) Ken Tucker New York Magazine (Vulture) Ken Tucker Closer is marred by some drippy music courtesy of Damien Rice and a small-surprise ending that feels like gimmicky irony. But the film's core idea is compelling.
• 80 The A.V. Club Scott Tobias The A.V. Club Scott Tobias Dramatically leaps through time, covering months or sometimes years in the span of a single cut. The effect is jarring and exhilarating, but it also bucks the common idea that relationships deepen over time.
• 80 Dallas Observer Bill Gallo Dallas Observer Bill Gallo Full of intellectual stimulation as well as low, dark pleasures--"Carnal Knowledge" redux!
• 70 Variety Todd McCarthy Variety Todd McCarthy The caustic wit and brute force of Patrick Marber's acclaimed play come across with a softened edge in Mike Nichols' bigscreen version of Closer.
• 70 Village Voice Dennis Lim Village Voice Dennis Lim Closer casts a smugly amused eye on the human capacity for betrayal. But because it also seeks to congratulate its audience for its urbane unshockability, it never strays beyond the limits of middlebrow complacency.
• 67 Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum The last thing Marber's quartet of modern miserables needs is to be admired; they are the very worst of average people, but on screen they have become the very best of the baddest.
• 50 The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt Determined to be faithful to the strong, often shocking language and in-your-face drama in Marber's mannered writing, Nichols and his actors find no way to lift Closer into a realm that enlightens.
• See all 42 reviews on Metacritic.com
• See all external reviews for Closer

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If you saw Closer (2004) when you were too young to appreciate it, watch it again now

I remember Closer coming out when I didn't have a lot of relationship experience, well, life experience, and it was kinda confusing to me, also due to how Nichols (and the play) applies some quick jumps in time, often with just one scene.

I also just didn't get all the interpersonal nuances that come from dating and breakups and instant attraction and sex.

The acting from Portman, Law and Owen is superb, as is the writing. Ugh, so many killer lines that I never really appreciated when I was younger.

And I know the opening and ending sequences frustrate some folks, but I really liked them.

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The Ending Of Closer Explained

2004's "Closer" is all about relationships and has some truly hilarious moments, but it's basically the opposite of a romantic comedy. Dan ( Jude Law ), Alice ( Natalie Portman ), Anna ( Julia Roberts ), and Larry (Clive Owen) take turns being miserable and manipulative as their lives repeatedly collide over the course of a few years. Some of the characters might be a little more well-adjusted than others, but by the end of the movie it's pretty clear that all of them have some issues they need to work through.

Directed by Mike Nichols and written by Patrick Marber, "Closer" earned plenty of plaudits at the time, with Portman and Owen both getting Oscar nominations for their work. They give mesmerizing performances that you really can't look away from, even if the characters occasionally make you want to hide your eyes. It won't go down as one of the best romantic movies of all time , but it's an undeniably entertaining film about how relationships go bad — and how they can start bad, too. The characters in "Closer" live in a whirlwind of possessiveness, obsessiveness, and jealousy that makes just about every relationship appear doomed to fail.

Because the relationships in "Closer" are so unstable, they can also be a little hard to follow. The story breezes past entire years as lies pile on top of betrayals and cause relationships to fall apart and come back together. Here's how it all turned out and what the ending of the film means.

What you need to remember about the plot of Closer

What's worse than an unhealthy relationship? Two unhealthy relationships. "Closer" starts by introducing Alice, a former stripper fueled by wanderlust, and Dan, a failed novelist turned obituary writer. The two hit it off and start dating, but their honeymoon phase doesn't last that long. Dan finally publishes a book, and he becomes infatuated by Anna, a professional photographer who's hired to take Dan's picture for the novel's release. When they first meet, Dan kisses Anna, who almost immediately reveals the truth to Alice.

Despite what happened, Dan and Alice stay together. However, Dan just can't get Anna off his mind. As part of his strange obsession with her, Dan pretends to be Anna while talking to other men in online chat rooms. Dan decides to play a prank on one of them, telling a man named Larry to meet Anna at the aquarium the following day. As luck would have it, the real Anna actually is at the aquarium when Larry arrives, and after a supremely awkward first encounter, the two of them fall in love.

A year goes by, and Dan can't stop obsessing about Anna. He takes Alice to one of Anna's art gallery openings, and she meets Larry for the first time. Dan and Anna kick off an affair and they continue secretly seeing each other for the next year, even as Anna gets married to Larry.

What happens at the end of Closer?

Of course, Dan and Anna don't keep their affair a secret forever. Eventually the two of them tell their respective partners what's going on. Alice begs Dan to stay with her, but he refuses. She decides to completely disappear from Dan's life in response. Larry, on the other hand, is enraged at Anna and storms out of their apartment, but he becomes determined to win Anna back.

Some time passes, and Larry meets Alice for the second time. This time the two meet while Alice is working at a strip club, and later that night they sleep together. Larry keeps his relationship with Alice at just a one night stand. Anna files for divorce, and in a last ditch attempt to win her back, Larry tells Anna that he'll only sign the divorce papers if she agrees to sleep with him one last time. When Anna tells Dan what happened, he's horrified, and their relationship begins to deteriorate.

Amazingly, Larry's plan works. Dan and Anna completely fall apart, and she decides to get back together with Larry. Devastated, Dan shows up at Larry's office and begs for Anna back, but Larry tells him where to find Alice and urges Dan to get back together with her. Dan does restart things with Alice, but he becomes obsessed with knowing whether or not she slept with Larry. Alice realizes that Dan doesn't trust her, and she leaves him. As the movie comes to a close, we learn that Alice's real name is Jane — a fact she only ever revealed to Larry.

Does the ending of the play differ from the movie?

Adapting your own stage show into a movie seems like a fairly straightforward process, but no adaptation is ever one-to-one. Plus, no author can resist the opportunity to make changes to their own work. For the most part, both versions of Patrick Marber's "Closer" are the same. The movie and the play follow the same four characters, and their relationships progress and fall apart in nearly identical ways. Only a few details got changed from the stage to the screen, but some of those details make a big difference to the characters and to the ending.

The movie version of "Closer" removes an entire scene from the second act of the play. In the scene, Alice confronts Anna about her affair with Dan, and she takes a chance to steal back the pictures that Anna took of her when they initially met after Dan's photography session. This scene lets the two leading women have another tense interaction, and it also gives Alice much more agency in how her own story plays out. For whatever reason, the screenplay is more focused on the men of the story.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Alice dies at the end of the play. Sadly, she gets hit by a car after returning to America. Dan flies over to identify her body because there's nobody else to do it. While this wasn't included in the movie, the final shot actually drops a massive hint about Alice's fate. Like at the beginning of the film, she's shown crossing a road, though eagle-eyed viewers have noticed that she's crossing with the "don't walk" sign lit up red. She escaped with her life when she was struck by a car in London, but the play tells us that she's not so lucky this time around.

Why does Dan introduce Anna to Larry?

Dan had no idea what he was setting in motion when he first introduced Larry to Anna. Of course, Dan didn't actually intend for the two of them to meet in person, and their chance encounter at the aquarium was mostly out of his control. However, it's still worth asking why Dan was pretending to be Anna while speaking to men in online chat rooms. One of Dan's biggest problems in both of his relationships is that he wants to possess whoever he's in love with. It's not enough for Dan to be with someone as an equal. He has to have some kind of power or control over the other person. That's why Dan blows up his relationships with Anna and Alice after learning that each of them slept with Larry.

When it comes to Dan's peculiar internet habits, pretending to be Anna is just one more way he feels like he can get control over her. In his mind, Dan can make Anna do anything he wants with anyone he wants when he's using her persona online. The scene where Dan and Larry chat online is definitely the funniest moment of the entire movie, but underneath the comedy is a look at the dark side of Dan's obsessive nature. In the end, it's his obsessiveness that ultimately ruins his chances of saving things with Alice, and the foundations of that moment are laid in scenes like this one.

Why did Anna and Larry get back together?

Dan may not be the nicest guy around, but that doesn't mean Larry gets to be automatically considered a catch. When Larry first meets Anna, he thinks she's come to the aquarium to meet him for sex, so he doesn't introduce himself the way a normal person would. Once Anna pieces together that Dan must have been playing a prank, she and Larry have a good laugh and go on to keep talking to each other. Sex and humor form the basis of their relationship, but Larry also has a darker side.

Larry is a little sex obsessed and sometimes quick to anger, but his biggest flaw — even though it works to his advantage in "Closer" — is that he's manipulative. Larry begs Anna to sleep with him one last time before finalizing their divorce, but later we find out that his real motivation was messing with Dan's head. Larry knew that if he and Anna slept together, Dan wouldn't be able to keep the relationship going.

Larry used sex as a weapon against Dan, but at the same time, he really did love Anna. The biggest difference between Larry and Dan is that Larry doesn't view Anna as something to control or possess. The love between them is genuine, if messy. They get back together because they always had feelings for each other and they figure out that those feelings are more important than everything that happened with Dan.

What lessons were learned?

It can be a little difficult to track everyone's relationship status in "Closer," so here's the general breakdown. Dan starts dating Alice. Anna starts dating Larry. Then Dan and Anna start sleeping together and keep it up even while Anna gets married to Larry. The truth comes out, so everyone breaks up. Dan and Anna start officially dating, but that doesn't last long. Anna gets back together with Larry. Dan gets back together with Alice, but then she leaves him when he won't stop asking if she slept with Larry while they were broken up.

That's enough back and forth for a lifetime, but every twist and turn taken sheds new light on the characters. In the beginning, Dan's obsession with the idea of love is stronger than his loyalty in a relationship. Anna also seemingly falls into that trap, keen on following her heart. Alice, meanwhile, has over-invested in her relationship with Dan and almost completely forgets about herself. Larry lands somewhere in the middle, but he also wants to get one over on Dan from the very beginning.

By the end of the movie, surely some important lessons have been learned? Well, it's hard to say whether or not the characters in "Closer" really learn anything from their experiences. Alice is the only one who seems to change her view on relationships and how to define her self-worth. The others are too locked into their own habits and gut impulses to really grow. At least the audience can learn something from watching their failures play out.

Why did Alice lie to Dan about her name?

"Closer" doesn't really have a twist ending, but the secret of Alice's real name does act as a final surprise in the story. When she first meets Dan, the two of them take a walk through Postman's Park, and before they go their separate ways for the day, she introduces herself as Alice Ayres. Most of us probably didn't think anything of the name, but Larry notices that something is strange when he meets Alice at the strip club where she's working.

At the club, Alice again introduces herself as Alice. Larry demands that she tell him her real name, which she says is Jane. He doesn't believe her, and their argument gets pretty heated. No matter how much Larry yells, Alice keeps insisting that she's not lying to him. It's not until the very end of the movie that the audience learns she really was telling the truth. After Alice finally ends her relationship with Dan, she decides to fly home to New York. When she's moving through customs, the camera shows her passport and reveals that she really is called Jane.

Back in London, a nostalgic Dan decides to take a solo walk back through Postman's Park. While he's making his way along the same path he once walked with Alice, he notices that the park has a small memorial for a woman named Alice Ayres. The revelation shows us that even though she was apparently obsessed with Dan, part of Alice always understood that their relationship could never last.

What will Alice do now?

The ending of "Closer" doesn't leave us with many questions about the characters who are living in London. Larry and Anna have found a way past their differences. They're back together, and, based on the conversation they had when they first split up, are presumably getting ready to have kids. Dan is working as the editor of his newspaper's obituary section. Alice, on the other hand, remains a bit of a mystery at the end of the movie. We know that she tragically dies in the play, but we don't see that play out in the film. As such, viewers are left to guess about what's in store for her.

When she first came to London, Alice seemed like a free spirit who wanted to travel and chase her own passions. In reality, she almost immediately tied herself to Dan and made their relationship the core of her identity. Because of that, we never really got a strong sense of what Alice actually wants for herself in life. Now that she's single and back in New York, there's really no telling what she's going to do. Alice herself might not even have any idea what she wants, but separating herself from Dan has finally given her an opportunity to figure that out. As long as she remembers to look both ways before crossing the road, the future is bright for her by the time the credits roll.

What has the cast and crew said about Closer?

Patrick Marber told The Guardian that he penned the majority of "Closer" on a writers' retreat in Ireland. He first imagined the characters who would later become Alice and Larry after being "dragged along to a lap-dancing club." Eventually, Alice's name came to him in Postman's Park, like in the movie. "When it was shot in London, I experienced the strangeness of there being a movie crew in little Postman's Park," he said. "It's odd how life works out."

In that same interview, Clive Owen opened up about his experience with "Closer." He read the original stage script and thought that it was "such an honest examination of the pain from relationships and what it feels like to be bereft." Owen jumped at the chance to act in a stage production of "Closer," but he didn't get the role he really wanted: Marber thought Owen was too young to play Larry, so he was given the role of Dan instead. Owen finally got to play Larry in the film, which he called "the most incredible gift."

The person who had the biggest influence on the film was late director Mike Nichols. Not only did he get a brilliant performance out of Natalie Portman, who called Nichols "the only older man who mentored me without there ever being a creepy element in it" in a book about his life (via People ), but it was reportedly also his idea to change the ending of the movie. According to an Entertainment Weekly report from the time, this big change (presumably removing Alice's death in New York) was a last minute one.

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Tom Hanks' Eerie Moment In Saving Private Ryan's D-Day Opening Clarified By Historian (& Yes, It's Accurate)

The high republic's greatest villain set up the jedi's destruction, 200 years before revenge of the sith, rey will officially be the last skywalker, this movie was better than i thought it would be, but the characters are such idiots that i found it hard to enjoy the movie more than just marginally..

There's something I really don't understand. Why does Hollyweird always have such a huge need to adapt stage plays into movies? It doesn't make any sense. With the recent release of Rent and The Producers , I feel like I'm in movie hell. The film adaptation of Closer , written by Patrick Marber and based on his play, is a classic example of why I hardly ever go to see stage plays. Most of them are just too morbid and depressing to be enjoyable. I mean, think about it... when was the last time you saw a happy, uplifting stage play? And take my word for it, the words "happy" and "uplifting" are in no danger of being associated with this movie.

For all its faults, Closer is actually quite well-made. In fact, it was better than I thought it was going to be. It basically involves four people who talk for an hour and a half, so I wasn't expecting to be blown away. The subject matter is unpredictable and edgy enough to be entertaining, though, if not a little shocking at times. (Children should not see this movie for more reasons than I have room to list here.) The bottom line is that if you're going to direct a stage play, it's hard to find someone better than Mike Nichols. My biggest issue with Nichols' films is that he tends to focus on keeping the material edgy and challenging, rather than entertaining the audience. In some cases, that works really well, but with others, that's not quite the case. Overall, I mildly enjoyed Closer , but the movie is an exercise in frustration to watch, as I'll explain.

The story is set in London, and it starts out with Dan (played by Jude Law) and Alice (played by Natalie Portman) seeing each other from across a crowded street. Before Dan can introduce himself, though, Alice is promptly mowed down by a car while she's in the crosswalk, so he goes with her to the hospital. It turns out that she didn't sustain any major injuries, but during the time Dan and Alice have spent together, they really hit it off. Fast-forward to a few months later, and Dan has written a book about the experience. He's in a photography studio getting his picture taken for the book cover, when it suddenly dawns on him that the photographer, Anna (played by Julia Roberts), is an attractive young woman. Despite the fact that Dan has a girlfriend, he hits on Anna, and after a little initial hesitation, she reciprocates... sort of. From that point on, Dan is fascinated with Anna, but he still has feelings for Alice. I was starting to get a headache by this point.

The next part of the story has Dan playing an internet prank on a doctor named Larry (played by Clive Owen). Dan pretends that he's Anna, and he has Larry meet her at a local aquarium. To everyone's surprise, despite the initial awkward moment, Larry and Anna really hit it off, and before you can say "totally unrealistic," Larry and Anna are married. But do you think that's going to stop Dan and Anna from getting their freak on? If you said "heck no," give yourself a gold star! Before you know it, the relationship between Dan and Alice is in trouble, then Anna and Larry's marriage is in trouble, then Dan tries to get together with Anna, then Larry tries to get together with Alice... I really had a serious headache by this point.

What really shocked me about this movie was how open everyone was with each other. If people really talk like that in London, I never want to visit that place again. As an example, Anna describes to Larry in graphic detail about what she did with Dan, who had what reaction when, etc. And she tells that to Larry because he asks her! Call me crazy, but I'm guessing that's not something Dr. Phil would recommend to help a struggling couple get the spark back into their relationship. The most frustrating thing about the movie is that out of the four lead characters, not one is clinically sane. They are all completely nuts, and they are all idiots. Dan is an idiot for cheating on Alice even though they have a (supposedly) happy relationship. Alice is an idiot for staying with a loser like Dan. Anna is an idiot for getting involved with a loser like Dan, even when she's married. Larry is an idiot for staying with Anna, even though he knows she's trouble. When all the main characters are idiots, how can they be likable? And how can a movie be enjoyable if there isn't a single likable character in it?

I won't reveal what finally ends up happening with all these dysfunctional relationships, but it really doesn't matter because we don't have much reason to care. This movie, if nothing else, serves as a great example of what you should not do if you want to keep a relationship alive and well. For all its faults, though, the movie ultimately keeps the viewer interested, not so much in what happens, but rather in the characters themselves. The story development is fairly lackluster, but the character development is quite good, as you would expect from a stage play. I mildly enjoyed Closer because it kept me interested in finding out more about the characters, but I couldn't enjoy it more than that because all the main characters were such idiots that it was hard to really care about what happened to them. I think it's time to go watch A Few Good Men again. Now that's how a stage play should be adapted into a movie...

Closer is a drama film directed by Mike Nichols, featuring Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, and Clive Owen. The film explores the intricate and tumultuous relationships between two couples in London, focusing on themes of love, betrayal, and the complexities of human connection. The intersecting romantic entanglements among the four main characters serve as a deep dive into the nature of intimacy and honesty.

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Closer Movie Ending Explained

Closer Movie Ending Explained: Unraveling the Complexities of Love and Betrayal

Released in 2004, “Closer” is a captivating drama that explores the intricacies of love, lust, and betrayal. Directed by Mike Nichols and based on the play of the same name by Patrick Marber, the film delves into the lives of two couples whose paths intersect, leading to a series of intense and emotionally charged encounters. As the film reaches its climactic ending, viewers are left with a mix of emotions and lingering questions. In this article, we will analyze the ending of “Closer” and provide seven interesting facts about the film. Furthermore, we will address fourteen commonly asked questions and provide insightful answers. Let’s unravel the complexities of this captivating movie.

Ending Explanation:

The ending of “Closer” is both heartbreaking and thought-provoking. After a series of betrayals and emotional manipulation, the characters find themselves at a crossroads. Dan (played by Jude Law), who initially falls in love with Alice (played by Natalie Portman), ends up leaving her for the sophisticated and enigmatic photographer Anna (played by Julia Roberts). However, their relationship is far from perfect. Anna secretly engages in an affair with Larry (played by Clive Owen), who is initially married to Alice. As the film concludes, the characters face the consequences of their actions, with Alice ultimately getting her revenge by revealing the truth about Anna’s affair to Larry.

Interesting Facts About “Closer”:

1. The film’s screenplay was adapted by Patrick Marber himself, who also wrote the original play. This ensured the preservation of the play’s dark and intense atmosphere throughout the movie.

2. “Closer” received critical acclaim and was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Natalie Portman’s outstanding performance.

3. The film explores the theme of identity and self-deception. Each character presents different versions of themselves to their partners, highlighting the complexities of human relationships.

4. Mike Nichols, the director of “Closer,” is known for his ability to bring out powerful performances from his actors. He masterfully captures the raw emotions and vulnerabilities of the characters in this film.

5. The movie’s title, “Closer,” refers to the constant desire for intimacy and connection that drives the characters’ actions. It also emphasizes the blurred lines between love and lust.

6. “Closer” showcases the power dynamics within relationships, highlighting how individuals can use manipulation and betrayal to gain control over their partners.

7. The film’s non-linear narrative adds an additional layer of complexity, allowing the audience to piece together the characters’ stories and motivations.

Common Questions about “Closer” and their Answers:

1. What is the significance of the strip club scene in the movie?

In the strip club scene, the characters confront their desires and confrontations with their own vulnerabilities. It serves as a symbolic representation of the characters’ quest for intimacy and connection.

2. Why does Alice lie about her name when she first meets Dan?

Alice lies about her name to create a mysterious persona and protect her vulnerability. She wants to engage in a relationship that is built on fantasy rather than facing her own reality.

3. How does the film explore the concept of truth?

“Closer” challenges the idea of absolute truth by showcasing how the characters manipulate and deceive each other. It demonstrates that truth can be subjective and easily distorted in the realm of relationships.

4. What motivates Anna to engage in an affair with Larry?

Anna seeks excitement and a break from her monotonous relationship with Dan. Her affair with Larry provides her with an escape from the routine and offers a thrilling alternative.

5. Why does Alice ultimately choose to reveal Anna’s affair to Larry?

Alice’s revelation is driven by her desire for revenge. She wants to inflict the same pain and betrayal she experienced upon Anna, ultimately exposing the truth and causing significant damage to their relationship.

6. What role does jealousy play in the film?

Jealousy is a driving force throughout “Closer.” It fuels the characters’ actions, leading them to engage in deceitful behavior and manipulate their partners to maintain control.

7. Is there any redemption for the characters in the end?

The ending of “Closer” leaves room for interpretation. While it appears that the characters face the consequences of their actions, true redemption remains elusive, as they continue to navigate the complexities of love and betrayal.

8. How does “Closer” portray the theme of sexuality?

The film explores sexuality as a powerful force that drives the characters’ actions. It showcases how individuals can use sex as a weapon, a tool for manipulation, and a means of control within relationships.

9. Are the characters in the film relatable?

The characters in “Closer” are flawed and complex, making them relatable to many viewers. Their struggles with love, lust, and betrayal reflect the challenges and complexities often found in real-life relationships.

10. What is the significance of the film’s setting in London?

London serves as a backdrop that enhances the film’s themes of love, lust, and betrayal. The city’s vibrant atmosphere mirrors the intensity of the characters’ emotions and adds to the overall aesthetic of the film.

11. How does “Closer” challenge traditional notions of romantic relationships?

“Closer” defies conventional ideas of romance by portraying relationships that are fraught with manipulation, deception, and betrayal. It explores the darker and more complicated sides of love, highlighting the complexities inherent in romantic connections.

12. Is there a moral message conveyed by the film?

“Closer” does not offer a clear-cut moral message. Instead, it presents a raw and unfiltered exploration of human relationships, leaving the audience to grapple with their own interpretations and judgments.

13. What is the significance of the film’s non-linear narrative?

The non-linear narrative in “Closer” adds depth to the storytelling by allowing the audience to piece together the characters’ stories and motivations. It also mirrors the fragmented nature of human connections and emotions.

14. How does the film depict the consequences of betrayal?

“Closer” portrays the devastating consequences of betrayal, showcasing how it shatters trust and irreversibly damages relationships. It highlights the long-lasting emotional impact that betrayal can have on individuals.

Final Thoughts:

“Closer” is a compelling and emotionally charged film that delves into the complexities of love, lust, and betrayal. Its ending leaves the audience with a mix of emotions, as the characters face the consequences of their actions. Through its thought-provoking narrative and stellar performances, the movie invites viewers to reflect on the blurred lines between love and deceit in the realm of relationships. As we leave the world of “Closer” behind, we are reminded of the power of honesty, the importance of trust, and the fragile nature of human connections.

Quotes from Professionals in the Field:

1. “The film beautifully captures the complexities of human relationships, showcasing the vulnerabilities and power dynamics at play.” – Relationship Therapist

2. “Closer challenges societal norms by exploring the darker side of love and exposing the potential for manipulation within relationships.” – Psychologist

3. “The non-linear narrative of the film adds an additional layer of depth and engages the audience in piecing together the characters’ stories, much like we do in real-life relationships.” – Film Critic

4. “Closer forces us to question our own understanding of truth and the subjective nature of honesty within the realm of love and betrayal.” – Sociologist

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