Movie: Closer (5.5 of 10)

5.5 out of 10

I guess that May is Natlie Portman month! She is in almost everything that we are watching (not to mention that Revenge of the Sith is on its way).

I thought that I was going to be more 'disturbed' by this movie than I was, but the cheating in which the characters engaged (and definitely the consequences associated with their actions) wasn't nearly as realistic as the cheating (& consequences) in Unfaithful. When characters in Closer cheated on each other the partner of the cheatee didn't hurt nearly as much as they would in the real world.

It is weird to say this...but, Julia Roberts was bad casting and should not have been in this movie. I never thought that I would say that a movie would have been better without Julia Roberts, but there is no doubt that a different actress would have been more believable in her promiscuous and morally dis-attached character. It is almost like Roberts was hell-bent on trying to do something that didn't match her sweetheart image.

The same could probably also be said about Portman, but Portman's performance underscores her versatility and re-inforces her place as one of the premiere actresses of today. I was shocked that she actually was as convincing as she was in this role as Roberts' performance missed the mark.

As a rental, I guess Closer was good enough. I like the reviews done in May and June located here, which are a tad more forgiving than this review, which is also pretty accurate.

"From the start, Closer makes no attempt to hide its unlikely plot and wholesale absurdity. Characters behave completely irrationally, uttering the worst dialogue imaginable. "Why won't you let me love you!?" "I love you and I need a piss." Who talks like this!? No one. Not even British people."

One piece of dialogue that I did like a lot was when Jude Law's character tells Natalie Portman that he didn't know how "it" happened. (You can figure "it" out pretty easy by now). Portman calls bullshit and says that there is "always a moment!" (paraphrased) always one particular opportunity/choice when you could turn away or when it just happens.' I related to that and thought that it articulates the decisions that we all have made in the past and have to make on a daily basis as it relates to certain behaviors.

Rotten Tomatoes is one of my favorite movie discussion websites and presents similarly inconsistent perspectives on the movie as I probably have in this entry.