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| The elegant poster for Mike Nichols' Closer |
QUICK REVIEW:
A failed writer meets a stripper in London, SPOILER and they fall in love. He also starts an affair with a photographer, who leaves her husband, but then goes back to him. And the stripper leaves the him.
That is the plot in this the penultimate film from the great, recently passed on German director Mike Nichols (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)). It is a love-themed relationship drama that impresses with its fine performances from Jude Law (A. I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)), Natalie Portman (Black Swan (2010)), who was Oscar-nominated for her work, - along with Clive Owen (Children of Men (2006)). But for me it was especially Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman (1990)) whom I relished in the film.
It is based on an intelligent script by Patrick Marber (Notes on a Scandal (2006)), adapting his own 1997 play here. It confronts us with the complexities of love and its hard, hard conditions of sustaining itself for a longer period of time.
Closer does, unfortunately, have a strip club scene that I thought was incredibly contrived and unbelievable.
Related reviews:
Mike Nichols: Angels in America (2003, TV-miniseries) or, Dying in the 80's, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H
Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire
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| Natalie Portman in Mike Nichols' Closer |
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| Julia Roberts in Mike Nichols' Closer |
Watch the great trailer for the film here
Cost: 27 mil. $
Box office: 115.5 mil. $
= Big hit
[Closer made a nice 33.9 mil. $ (29 % of the total gross) in the US, and was extremely well-received in Brazil (1.1 mil. admissions) and several European countries, especially England (where the plot takes place, and where Marber's play also had its original run) (7.9 mil. £), Italy (5.3 mil. €) and Spain (4.8 mil. €).]
What do you think of Closer?
Which of Nichols' many good movies do you treasure highest and why?
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