Anyone else seen this? If so, your thoughts? If you're going to post a spoiler, please post a warning.

Ace said:

I thought this movie was a masterpiece. VERY truthful and honest...to the point of making you squirm. It's a shame it wasn't nominated for more Oscars; I really thought it was an incredible film.

Case said:

it was much better then Million Dollar Baby..The most realistic relationship study ive ever seen on film.....

sosgemini said:

Well, I think Million Dollar Baby is the best of the Oscar-nominated movies...but yes, "Closer" is hands down the most accurate depiction of a relationship that I've ever seen. Simply jaw-dropping incredible.

Case said:

Million Dollar Baby has major flaws (that I wont get into until the film has been released on dvd..)..it is *not* a perfect or great film by a longshot....and shame on Clint Eastwood for going all sap...(and im not talking about the wow moment either)..he made some horrible decisions as a director that lead to me really being annoyed by the film..so much so that it took away from me enjoying it...this despite the wonderful acting by all involved...

unlike closer which had characters who were real and a director who didnt take the "hollywood" sentimental heart tug way out of telling his story....

thus far, i'd say Ray was the best of the bunch....but then i still need to see Aviator, Finding Neverland and Sideways...although I doubt i'll see sideways...i hate white-man syndrome films..

Natalie Portman wouldn't have to ask me twice to munch her carpet.

Note to SOS: My wife is out shopping!

What was it about the movie that made the portrait of a relationship so realistic in your eyes??... (I haven't seen it yet)

Byron said:

mike (oh lord why cant i think of his last name right now) who directed it paid careful attention to small details...it wasnt just the powerful script but the wonderful acting by Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and the british guy who's name also escapes me at the moment..

only at the begining did you think you were watching movie stars...you completely believe they are these people....the way Julia Roberts tells Jude Law to tuck in his shirt is just chilling..cause you rarely see a film spend time on such a small detail..and its not a plot driven moment...its reality....

and then there are the discussions...you find yourself cheering some characters as they speak and hissing at others..not because they are acting out or reacting but because your watching real people have real relationship issues....at one point i found myself begging Jude Law's character to stop because I had been in a similiar situation..and i just had pity for the guy...i knew what path he was being lead down cause i walked that same path...and it just feels vouyeristic....almost dirty to be easedropping..

an awesome melodrama!!! its hard to pull off a realistic melodrama simply due to the nature of melodramas (they are extreme in nature) and this one pulled it off...

unlike Mike (ughh..i had his name and lost it again)'s previous relationship study Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf..that was all extreme for the sake of being extreme...but dont get me wrong...I love that film too..this was just an updated realistic version of that situation...

moviestarts? edit...
[Edited 2/4/05 22:37pm]

Nichols!!


weww..thank god!!

sosgemini said:

...Makes me want to see it now.

I was SO looking forward to this movie, it's right up my alley I thought. About midway through I just wanted to kick every character's ass It was annoying, they were annoying. I didn't think it was so much about honesty as it was about a bunch of miserable bastards repeatedly making dumb ass decisions & constantly trying to deflect blame. What's so honest about a film who's characters never have the guts to be honest with themselves or the people they claim to love? Too much wallowing in their own bullshit for me. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't enjoy it.

Clive Owen is a find (I know he's not new to many but he's new to me) & the only reason Natalie Portman won a golden globe is b/c she got near naked She was much better in Garden State.

But whatever, everyone seems to love it so maybe I'm crazy

CalhounSq said:

to sum up CalhounSq review, its about the reality of failed relationships....in the heat of the moment we all deflect ownership of our failed relationships...or we take total ownership despite the fact that its our partner who was in complete control the entire time and played us like fools...

thats the glory of this film.....CalhounSq, your reaction is exactly what the film wants to insight...These are not virtues people making the right decisions....All we get in films are people doing that..From Pretty Woman to Hotel Rhwanda....This is the ugly side of human relationships..The side we never see....

Not all films are supposed to make you walk away feeling happy...If you had such an emotional reaction, can you concede that the film did its job? to make you think about life? i have had this argument many times over the film Irreversable...time and time again people refuse to acknowledge that art is not always supposed to be positive..to acknowledge the darker aspects can be an equally rewarding film exprience..the makers of Closwer want you to hate those characters.....hate the decisions they make....but dont hate Natalie's performance because she got all naked..hate it because the *character* used her only asset, beautiful naked youth (and perky breast) thats completly in line with her character..... what did she accomplish with that nakedness? thats what i walked away thinking about after the movie ended...

which was a hella lot more then i thought about Clint Eastwood's character's decision after Million Dollar Baby..

UGHH!! that movie!!



drunkenedit!!
[Edited 2/5/05 2:06am]

sosgemini said:

I hear you & I'm not one of those who seeks happy endings. I love dark films where people are fucked up, but no one in this film is even trying to see past their own bullshit. Maybe that's what people find so "real" about it b/c that's what people do (I guess). I may be taking it to heart b/c I've had situations recently w/ folks who don't even know they've taken a shit let alone take time to smell it & acknowledge it reeks. Makes me fucking nuts There's no growth, no interest in figuring it all out - just mope around, play wounded & watch the world spin.

I'm on a tangent now but this film aggrivated me. If that's the films goal then yes, it worked on me.

By the way, what DID Natalie's character accomplish?

I loved Closer,

it made me laugh and made me cry, some of the arguments from my experience were realistic and well performed.

I enjoyed it.

sosgemini said:

I DID think that "Closer" was more than a little reminiscent of Neil Labute's film "Your Friends and Neighbors," which also explored the dark side of relationships. I think that Nichols, however, actually surpassed Labute in the "honesty" department. Let's put it this way--this movie caused me and my partner to have a five hour arguement about relationships and the nature of love. I believe in love (God, I sound like Lennon), but I actually loathe monogamy. If we get rid of all this fake, Hallmark bullshit about "soulmates" and "true love," you find that monogamy is a social construct that is very unnatural and leads to ALOT of dissatisfaction among people.
"Closer" isn't anti-love OR relationships, but it seeks to get to the core of the true motivations that people have in pursuing committed relationships. "Closer" is actually a very BRAVE film--most Americans are so fucking brainwashed into believing that by finding "true love" it will solve all their problems and answer all their questions...when it does anything but.

Case said:

i loath Neil Labute... :shudder:

and your actually gonna make me go rent one of his darn movies..



great post by the way...

sosgemini said:

Why do you loathe Labute? I think he's making the same statement over and over again in his movies, but I think he's fairly truthful most of the time. His last film "The Shape of Things" was basically the flip-side of "In the Company of Men" (a movie that I still think was the most honest depiction ever of how men truly see women), but for the most part, I think he's OK.

Still, "Closer" kicked the living SHIT out of anything that LaBute has done.

Case said:

he is a horrible director....his films (like kevin smith) are too still...and im sorry but "In the Company of Men" is misogynistic. There was no equality between the characters of opposing sexes..Yeah, i get it...men are pigs..but it was done in a fashion that glorified it (for me) and turned me off....

Unlike "Closer" that treated both sexes with disdain and reality.....I never thought Labute's characters were real people...I thought it was an oppurtunity for him to show off his writing skills....too calculated.

fromthreadtothatedit...
[Edited 2/5/05 9:22am]

Out of curiosity, why do you think we tend to see the "dark side" of aspecets of humanity to be more "real" than the any other??...

By the way, I think Labute's films (the two I've seen, "In The Company Of Men" and "Your Friends And Neighbors") are pretty decent, although his artistic voice seems too repetitive..."Company Of Men" is actually a stunning film, only on the surface is it about "men are pigs"...immediately beneath, it's more about "men are emotionally pathetic", with the ending showcasing that rather powerfully. One of the two men is shown in reality to be pretty much devoid of any emotion, an almost sociopathic creation who gets pleasure from the manipulation of others (he manipulated his male co-worker as much as he manipulated the deaf woman)...and the other man is shown to be pathetically yelling into the face of the deaf woman who's soul he just took part in trying to damage, his emotions the polar opposite of his callous coworker but just as extreme...all he wants is for her to notice him, acknowledge him...and in the end, I think those two polar opposites are the real thing Labute is saying exists in most men: the ability to be both misogynistic AND in pathetic need of a woman's attention and acknowledgement, all rolled up into each male individual who's trying to give and receive love.

"Your Friends And Neighbors" wasn't nearly as good...it just seemed like a desire to wallow in the disfunction of three couples for the sake of wallowing.

For my money, the best depiction of what relationships are truly like can be found on "The Simpsons", believe it or not...lol...Marge and Homer are as dysfunctional as they come within their relationship, yet the love expressed (and HOW it's expressed) is dead-on accurate. Best line possibly ever on that show that commented on relationships: Homer telling Millhouse's dad (who has just become recently divorced) that he doesn't fear the same happening between him and Marge...and says in a loving tone, "Marge and I have a relationship that's built on a solid foundation of routine"...lol

Byron said:

good question....i think life its because the situations that thread our lives together tilt towards the dark....

take child birth..its one of the most beautiful, positive and wonderful moments..yet, if you were to show a true representation of it on film, the process isnt a pretty site....to "truly" show the process (and the actual birth) would be a very uncomfortable thing to watch for most.....

what do you think?

LOVED it.

Went to see it with a girlfriend; walked out of the theater and said, "Boy, that was an ode to monogamy, wasn't it?"

CalhounSq said:[quote]I was SO looking forward to this movie, it's right up my alley I thought. About midway through I just wanted to kick every character's ass It was annoying, they were annoying. I didn't think it was so much about honesty as it was about a bunch of miserable bastards repeatedly making dumb ass decisions & constantly trying to deflect blame. What's so honest about a film who's characters never have the guts to be honest with themselves or the people they claim to love? Too much wallowing in their own bullshit for me. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't enjoy it.

Clive Owen is a find (I know he's not new to many but he's new to me) & the only reason Natalie Portman won a golden globe is b/c she got near naked She was much better in Garden State.


Totally agree,,it was a downer, why cant people take responsabilaty for thier actions instead of acting like children,,,gimme a break!
Im so sick of Julia Roberts~

sosgemini said:

Interesting... ...I hadn't thought of it in those terms. Kinda like saying the only way to truly know about your lawn, is to know about all the dirt and muck and insects and slimey things that live beneath it and effect its growth.

Gotta think on that one...
[Edited 2/5/05 14:21pm]

Can I just say "Your Friends & Neighbors" is one of my favorite movies ever

Wasn't crazy about In the Company of Men though

CalhounSq said:

I think "In the Company of Men" is incredible. The earlier post about it being just plain misogynistic misses the point of it, I think. Misogyny is the hatred of women; the movie hates MEN.It's ANYTHING but misogynistic. More than that, the film is a SATIRE of the white collar world.

In fact, "Company of Men" gets overlooked as satire. LaBute is basically making a statement commenting on the cutthroat nature of the white collar world. Chad and Howard were TURNED INTO THOSE MEN BY THE CORPORATE MACHINE. Read Roger Ebert's review of the film for more on this theory.

CalhounSq said:

Still waiting for an answer to this Q

CalhounSq said:

im afraid to answer..wait, i know....ill do it old school spoiler warning style..

CalhounSq said:

okay, had to create a post to get the alternate color for the backdrop.

what did she accomplish?


spoiler warning: she manipulated men playing playing a passive lost and innocent girl..when in reality she owned both those punks....mainly law's character...she damn well knew what she was doing by faking like she would get back with law and promising to get back with him...she had her card ready to get her revenge....and she did it..and she probably did something similiar in her last relationship..thats why she ended up in London...thinking a fresh start would change things..but it didnt. and when the realationship ended instead of her making peace with it and letting things go she had to give it to Law..She had to fuck him over bigtime to make herself feel better in order for her to movie on...you saw it in her eyes and she walked the streets of new york..confident lil girl owning the cock..it was the same look she had while walking down the street in london (when she first met Law)..notice that that confidence was erased through out the entire middle of the film? i bet you she enjoys being an innocent in love...but her true personality is the dominating bitch...and that bitch shined in her tits and ass scenes at the stripclub..

im interested in re-seeing her performance to see what i think about her after seeng her for the true bitch she was..


aight...end of spoiler.....thoughts?

do the trusty scroll over to read my post.