lucis

I had absolutely no idea what to expect when I went in for Closer, a movie by Mike Nichols (director of The Graduate). The movie has some really big name associated with it (Natalie Portman, Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen). Unfortunately most movies with big names like these turn up to be nothing great, and Closer came precariously close to being another one of those, but in the end I think I really liked it.

The first thing I really liked about the movie was the dialogue. All four characters are extremely witty and snappy. Whats makes this better is that the acting was really top-notch. A very interesting thing I read on imdb was that ONLY the four lead characters ever say anything throughout the movie. In fact, the camera never really focuses on anyone else. I didnt notice this during the movie. I think to pull something like this off requires a really good director. Pretty neat!

The movie starts off with a really nice song (The Blower’s Daughter) by Damien Rice, which really sets the tone for the rest of the movie. However, unlike The Graduate, is really very little background music in the rest of the movie. I think this goes very well with the really strong dialogues.

About two-thirds through the movie, it felt as if the movie had started to lose its punch. The story was getting nowhere, and I was almost expecting another one of those crappy Hindi movie style endings, where everyone lives happily ever after. But I think the end really pulls the movie together. It was quite unexpected, and is really what sets the movie apart.

Its interesting how I almost didnt want to go for this movie at first, but now I really like it.