IF YOU BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, YOU NEVER STOP LOOKING.
Mike Nichols was lauded for turning Tony Kushner’s play “Angels in America” into a great miniseries in 2003. It comes as no surprise that the esteemed director subsequently turned his interest to another play, this time a British one, Patrick Marber’s “Closer”. Kushner had updated his play for the miniseries and Marber did the same thing with his play for the movies. It would seem that this intimate collaboration between the playwrights and a filmmaker is an example to follow. It also helps if you can get a cast like this one.
Writing obituaries for a living
The story is set in London and the focus lies entirely on four people. Dan (Jude Law), who writes obituaries for a living, runs into Alice (Natalie Portman), an American stripper who has just arrived in the British capital. They spend some time together and become a couple. One year later, Dan has written a novel based on Alice’s life and his fortunes have turned around. They both have their pictures taken by a professional photographer, Anna Cameron (Julia Roberts)… and we learn that Dan is obviously not happy enough in his relationship with Alice. He starts pursuing Anna but nothing happens. Again, time passes. One day, Dan visits a sex chat room and meets a guy, Larry Gray (Clive Owen), who’s a dermatologist. Dan decides to have some fun and pretends to be Anna.
After some initial sex teasing, they decide to meet at the London Aquarium; Dan knows that Anna will actually be there. Larry goes to the Aquarium, meets Anna and after some initial confusion they actually hit it off and start dating; Anna realizes that Dan must be responsible for the prank, but things turned out great, so why complain? A few months later, things have changed again. Dan and Anna finally fall for each other and start cheating on Alice and Larry. When they decide to tell their partners the truth, things get even more complicated…
Two stages in relationships
Did you keep up with that plot summary? It is less complex once you actually see the movie. Marber focuses primarily on two stages in relationships. Firstly, that part where you meet someone and fall in love with them; it’s all about the passion and you set yourself up for either heartbreaking disappointment or the ultimate reward. Either way, you’re vulnerable but couldn’t care less; the love is too strong. Secondly, the part where you’ve lived with the person for some time and the passion has somewhat faded. You love your partner but it’s not as rose-colored anymore; there’s a chance that you could stray. We see these people go through the two stages in various ways, but Marber makes it interesting throughout by writing dialogue that any actor dreams of getting their hands on.
Nichols keeps everything sparse; the London scenery is never given a chance to overwhelm the conversations. The cast may consist entirely of movie stars, but they work hard for their money and are all excellent; Owen knows this play from the stage (he played Dan in the original production) and Portman in particular is an eye-opener as the sexy, impenetrable Alice.
Some viewers might feel that they have little in common with these people, but the majority are nevertheless likely to be fascinated by the emotions at display. Isn’t this pretty much how wonderfully screwed-up we all are?
Closer 2004-U.S. 104 min. Color. Produced by Mike Nichols, John Calley, Cary Brokaw. Directed by Mike Nichols. Screenplay, Play: Patrick Marber. Cast: Julia Roberts (Anna Cameron), Jude Law (Dan Woolf), Natalie Portman (Alice Ayres/Jane Jones), Clive Owen (Larry Gray).
Trivia:Â Cate Blanchett was reportedly considered for the part of Anna.
BAFTA: Best Supporting Actor (Owen). Golden Globes: Best Supporting Actor (Owen), Supporting Actress (Portman).
Last word: “I feel very, very spoilt and I probably won’t ever have such a great experience again. It’s not every day you work with Mike Nichols, and the fantastic thing about him is that, because he has so much power, status and is so respected, the studio just let him get on with the film. The studio were very supportive – in fact, they never asked me to tone it down, change the language, or change a word, really. It was just me and Mike in a room, talking about it. Things that I have done on other projects, like studio notes and conference calls – none of that occurred on this film. It was more like doing a play; just a $27 million-budgeted play!” (Marber, BBC)
