Sunday 18 September 2005

Closer (2004) - ickleReview (DVD)

I don't have a great deal to add to what I said about the cinema release. There isn't much extra on this DVD, except the music video of Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter", the soundtrack over the opening and closing sequences. On reflection, I think my favourite scene is when Jude Law goes to visit Clive Owen at work, coming into his surgery drookit from the rain. Owen plays the scene brilliantly: cocky, masculine, harsh, but with a tinge of sympathy, only to turn into a right bastard when he plays the cruel psychological trick on Jude Law just as he is about to leave. The women don't have lines quite as cutting as the men, especially Owen's character, who is a bit too much of a slimy get in the first few scenes, but really comes into his own in the scene where he returns from America and Julia Roberts is dressed and waiting for him, ready to break up. That sadomasochism is a wheeze, torturing himself with the gory details of Roberts's affair with Law, as, I think, most men would want to do in his position, perhaps not having the balls to do so in real life.

Nugget: if you've seen the film before, there's no harm in seeing it again. I noticed a reference to The Talented Mr. Ripley, when Jude Law says "Americano" to Natalie Portman, which reminded me of the song he sings in the jazz club in Italy with Matt Damon. A better investment, though, might be the play script, so that you can compare it to the screenplay, yet still appreciate Marber's keen dialogue.

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