Alice, not as naive as she looks, knows something is up and overhears the conversation between Daniel and Anna, as Anna feigns her rebuke at his advances because "he's taken." The morals are a little loose amongst these adults.
Daniel, in a sick twist of perversion, engages our final character Larry during an on-line chat on a sex-site. Pretending to be "Anna" he manages to lure Larry the dermatologist into his web of sexual deceit (and Larry is all too willing, liking his women a bit whorish, bordering on roadhouse slut) and suggests they meet.
During this game of bait and switch, he tells Larry to meet him at the Aquarium -which is where Anna likes to photograph strangers.
Whatever.
In a convulated plot twist, Anna is at the Aquarium and Larry approaches her like she is some kind of hootchie-baring alley tramp and somehow this licentious perv woos his way into her heart and low and behold the next scene, months later at her big phoyo show opening, they are dating.
Absurd.
So, now the fun begins, Larry sees Alice who is standing in front of her portrait (the one Anna took the day at the studio when she confesses she knew that Daniel and Anna were making out), a larger than life snapshot of her tear-stained but exquisite face. Larry, ever the salacious creep engages her in his inimitable way and a moment of seduction takes place just feet away from their respective lovers.
Simultaneoulsy, Daniel is professing that he has indeed been stalking Anna and Anna professes that she indeed has been enjoying it, albeit, once again feigning protest.
Next up: betrayal, adult style.
Daniel tells Alice he's in love with Anna, who is now married to Larry, who returns home from a trip and confesses he slept with "whore" (whatever that means) and all hell breaks loose. There are many tawdry discussions of who fucked who, what position, what bodily fluids were exchanged, dimensions, depth and every facet of carnal knowledge is revealed for the listening pleasure of the cuckold.
At Daniel and Alice's flat, Alice is desperately clinging to the illusion of love, as Daniel tells her he's ready to move on, it is here that we get a glimpse of what really exists in Alice's heart. She is young, but the most honest and admirable of the lot. She truly loves Daniel and asks if she can still see him, despite his betrayal - it's truly pathetic, yet heartbreaking. We can all remember at least once grasping at the last vestiges of love, self-esteem and ego, as it walks out the door into the arms of another.
Article comments
1 - Barry
I totally agree with your commendation of Natalie Portman in this movie: she turned out to be the only worthwhile aspect of it for me, with the ability to convincingly portray a number of characters and moods. She does fragile wonderfully, but in a way, was even better when she was in the strip joint, where Larry was trying to get something "real" from her. She gave him something real, but dead-panned it the whole way so that he never believed her. Great!
Apart from that, however, I didn't enjoy enough in the movie to write a proper review of it - your account of Jude and Julia is spot on, so that I could never feel any kind of engagement with their stories.
2 - Quack Corleone
I liked Larry. He was honest. Hated Alice, though. And I agree with your points about the acting on the part of Law and Roberts. But I think it's criminal to review 'Closer' and not mention the dialogue! Some of the exchanges were so venomous, acidic, funny, and spot on that I must have overlooked most of the film's bad points, because I thoroughly enjoyed it.
3 - Eric Olsen
good job Dawn, I didn't find anything funny about the movie, which seemed a dispiriting mess, with Law and Roberts barely there, Portman fine in an enigmatic role, and Owen convincing in a really loathsome character.
If I had found it funny, black humor to be sure, that would have made a huge difference. I just don't get the point of the whole excruciating thing and can't imagine it was any better in play form because the only thing that kept me involved at all was some of the imagery and overall look, which would have been impossible to convey on stage.
4 - Dawn
I was actually going to put in a couple of lines from each character, but the review was so difficult to write that by the end I had lost steam and just wanted it finished.
The dialogue and the story were compelling, I just think that Law and Roberts fucked it up so bad that it really ruined the potential. And I like both as actors, just not in this film.
Thanks for both of your comments.