I'm obsessed with the film, Closer...Anyone see it...?

[bliss_eternal]

I saw it a few nights ago, then rented it to watch with my husband tonight. I saw things tonight I didn't notice before.

Anyone see it? What did you think of it?

[RebelOne]

1. No, but I just went to NetFlix and watched the preview.

I've added it to my queue. Let you know what I think of it after I see the entire movie. It seems pretty interesting.

[bliss_eternal]

2. Cool!

Pm me if you like, or start a new thread, if this one's no longer around to kick up and continue the conversation. It's the kind of film that makes you think...at least that's how I felt about it. Didn't realize it was a play first.

[AlCzervik]

3. i saw it and i didn't like any of them except for Natalie Portman

in the end i thought it was about Clive Owen and Jude law, their characters i mean. Clive was a shit, Jude was weak. I did enjoy the chat room scene, that was funny as hell. I had an icky feeling for awhile after watching that movie.

[bliss_eternal]

5. I can see how you would feel that way--

icky after seeing it. Clive (Larry) was a shit. Jude(Dan) was as Alice said, a little boy. I was reading on some film message boards about it, as I was starved for conversation analyzing it (lol). The majority of posts I read, agreed with you--Portman's character was the only one they liked or felt ok about. I liked her, too.

The chat room scene was very funny!

[AlCzervik]

6. my sister loves Clive Owen and she wants Clive to redeemed so bad

like "Closer 2" "I know he's a damaged person and deep down he's a good person" Lol.

[bliss_eternal]

9. That's funny!

Though I can't say that I blame her, despite his wicked ways I found him attractive in spite of myself. :P I didn't HATE him, though. I appreciated his honesty--he didn't try to make apologies for who and what he was. "I'm a caveman," I think he said while fighting with Anna.

He liked it messy--very human, and real in my opinion. Quite the contrast to Dan--Jude Law, who initially at least lies all the time.

[AlCzervik]

11. yes, clive is one fine looking man. At the end i don't think either man

wanted her, they just didn't want the other one to have, she became like a toy to them and she enabled it and enjoyed it.

[bliss_eternal]

14. Absolutely--

She was merely a pawn, something to be possessed. Or as it was put here:

Dan: You love her like a dog loves its owner.
Larry: And the owner loves the dog for so doing.

But I think that Dan 'thought' he loved her, but he didn't really know what love was. Larry was a 'caveman' and wanted his property back--he wanted to win.

[AlCzervik]

16. i think he thought he had to love her or tell himself he loved her

to justify in his own mind what he was doing.

[bliss_eternal]

20. As a writer--

it was his nature to get obsessed about a subject (or a new woman). For him, the intensity of obsession was love. He couldn't see that the way he went about it, it wasn't. There was no true sense of intimacy, because their was no truth.

When he matured enough to seek out the truth (toward the end), to accept it and to forgive he lost both women. Anna he lost because she was never really his to begin with. Just a new subject for him to immerse himself in as a writer does. By the time he is ready to seek the truth in all things he got a promotion to editor. One who's job it is to ensure the truth in text. By the time he wants truth (to be closer--to have intimacy)he loses Alice because she didn't want intimacy with him by that point.

While it is a bleak examination of people--I find it a hopeful film in a way. :)

[wildhorses]

4. I thought it was an excellent film about life and morals and I

thought Natalie Portman played well in a pivotal role. I would watch it again and I rarely say that.

[bliss_eternal]

7. I enjoyed it, too--

much more than I expected I would. The film and my response to it surprised me. I had to see it again quite soon after my initial viewing--it's rare that I do that.

Sounds like you and I see Portman's character the same--as a catalyst (in a sense).

I love films that treat the viewer like an adult, and are thought provoking.

[wildhorses]

8. me too.and I love period pieces too

of them all Natalie had the highest ethics in an immoral job while the other three had fucked up morals while working in ethical professions....I loved the dichotomy and the paradox of it all

[bliss_eternal]

10. Yes!! I really LOVED that paradox as well.

I also loved how their jobs said so much about who they were during the course of the film.

************************SPOILERS BELOW***********************************************

Anna(Julia Roberts) is a photographer--a paid observer of strangers. She leans in long enough to get what she needs (the shot) and then she's gone. She never gets close, or truly develops intimacy in her life,much the way she deals with her subjects. She made a life of observing others' sadness--thrived on it. So much so that she wasn't happy unless she was miserable (at least that was what Larry said about her).

Dan(Jude Law)starts the film as an obituary writer--he's paid to immerse himself in the lives of others to the extent that he is completely obsessive, the way he obsesses over Anna after he meets her. As an obituary writer, he speaks of being an expert of euphemisms. Ironically, a polite way of lying--which is the way Dan leads his life at that point in his life. By the end, I feel he changes--as his job changed too.

Larry(Clive Owen) is a dermatologist--paid to treat others' skin. He deals with the surface, the superficial professionally. But he is different--he always goes for the jugular. He likes details, he looks into people and somehow sees what they don't really want to be seen--and he thrives on that. Ultimately, isn't that the way a good doctor should be, intuitive about others, and able to see what isn't always obvious to the naked eye? Ironically, when his character is hurting and vulnerable, he goes to the club and says he wants intimacy. The last place on earth he is going to get intimacy is at a strip club. LOL!

Which brings me to Alice(Natalie Portman)-A strippers job is fantasy. She is paid to entertain, titillate, tease and pry money from patrons without ever actually touching them or allowing herself to be touched. A stripper takes it all off in the superficial sense, she is physically naked but you never really know who they are beneath the fantasy or the persona. But in reality, Jane was the stripper, that was her reality beneath her persona of Alice.

Sorry so long :hi:

[wildhorses]

12. double post

must go to bed, meds are kicking in



goodnight all

[bliss_eternal]

15. Why thank YOU!

:blush: I LOVE movies--well, good ones at least. It would be nice to have someone to see them with that likes to analyze them.

Good night--sleep well! :hug:

[wildhorses]

13. excellent summation!!!

not too long at all



wish we could go to the movies together one time.
I would buy the :popcorn:

[MrScorpio]

17. An adult movie with people who do adult things

Of course I loved it

[bliss_eternal]

18. Hi Mr. Scorpio!

:hi: Glad you loved it, too!

I was pleasantly surprised. Some had made remarks that made me think I wouldn't like it. Wrong. Great film!

[MrScorpio]

19. That movie is the story of my life (No shit)

It was uncanny

[bliss_eternal]

21. Really--

are you (or should I say were you), Larry or Dan? Or both? ;)

It's such a smart film. It represented human nature and relationships so well. Very honest.

[MrScorpio]

22. I've been both at times

Nothing like international travel to bring it on home

[bliss_eternal]

23. LOL!

Well if it's any consolation, I've been both female characters (w/out actually working as a stripper) and maybe a bit of both males in the course of my life.

Human nature, go figure...