Closer (2004)
"What's so great about the truth? Try lying for a change, it's the currency of the world..."
Following James Salter’s Three (1968), one of our most popular posts so far, I suddenly thought of Closer (2004), directed by Mike Nichols (which, I suppose, might easily have been called Four), based on Patrick Marber’s play of 1997 and starring Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen.
Closer. It’s about four yuppies. Two couples. Two Americans and two Brits. In London. In 2004. Five years before The Shard. Set to Mozart’s Così fan tutte — but more of that later.
Whenever the Cromwellians flag a film with a ‘smoking, foul language, alcohol use, nudity and sexual content’ warning, I’m pressing that play button like there’s no tomorrow. Bring it on! But then, as I’ve always said, right from the very beginning, WEEKEND FLICKS is Cinema for Grown Ups.
But aside from the emotional and sexual game of chess, Closer (2004) is about truth in relationships. Lying versus honesty is one of the film’s major themes. It crops up time and time again. The characters spend half their time chewing the cud. As Roger Ebert said, in his perceptive review:
They are all so very articulate, which is refreshing in a time when literate and evocative speech has been devalued in the movies.
Here’s Dan (as played by Jude Law):
When I get back, please tell me the truth. Because I'm addicted to it. Because without it, we're animals. Trust me.
But is honesty always the best policy in a relationship? I’m reminded of something I read in a trashy tabloid, a few years ago. In one of those Agony Columns where the readers (supposedly) write in with their problems and somebody answers back. So, there’s this woman in High Wycombe having a bubble bath (think scented candle), and suddenly, randy father-in-law walks into the bathroom uninvited, and guess what, they end up having sex in the bath. Which she now regrets. The question, of course, is: 'Should she tell her husband?’ Nice one, editorial, thinking that one up. But God, how brain-dead can you get? I mean, really! The answer is so blatantly obvious that I want to fly a Cessna across the rooftops of High Wycombe — for the benefit of the good burghers of that Buckinghamshire Gomorrah — declaring to the county a firm and resounding NO!
Dan’s (Jude Law) a Fleet Street hack, writing obituaries for a major newspaper. Edgy American stripper, Alice (Natalie Portman), crossing the road, gets knocked down by a black cab, and that’s how they meet. Instant attraction. They hook up, and she moves into his flat next to trendy Smithfield Market, er, within the sound of Big Ben? Not sure that’s possible. Or maybe it is, if the wind’s in the West. Dunno. But let us continue. Next, naughty old Dan gets off with Leica-brandishing photographer Anna (Julia Roberts) during a shoot in her trendy studio. Anna then rejects him. So far, so bad.
Then Dan, in a moment of inspired boredom, gets on to the London Sex Anon chat forum, pretending to be Anna and runs into Neanderthal Larry, online, who’s surfing unsavoury websites at work (he’s a dermatologist). A brilliant comedic piece set to Rossini. Anyway, Dan sends sex-starved Larry off to the London Aquarium, where he runs into Anna, who’s sitting there demurely watching the sharks, swimming around in a tank. And before you know it, they’re an item.
