Closer : Waging a war against usual meet-cute flicks

Have you seen a human heart? It looks like a fist wrapped in blood! You go check a few facts while I get my hands dirty. - Larry

These are the words that were ringing in my ears long after I finished watching the movie Closer. Starting off as a typical rom-com it progresses into an arena of manipulations, power struggles, bitter truths, and lies. Characters resort to brutal truths (more like confessions) in their relationships, hurtful yet ashamed at the same time. The movie revolves around the idea of how intimacy is actually a lie.

Closer, released in 2004, is based on a play written by Patrick Marber and is directed by Mike Nichols. It stars Jude Law as Dan (a writer and journalist), Natalie Portman as Alice (an American girl who says she was a stripper and fled New York to end a relationship), Julia Roberts as Anna (an American photographer), and Clive Owen as Larry (a dermatologist). The characters connect in a series of meet-cutes that are perhaps no more contrived than in real life. The movie begins with Dan and Alice locking eyes by chance while coming from opposite directions on a street, both caught in flirtation. Time passes, they both are together and Dan writes a book based on his relationship with Alice. He has his book jacket photo taken by Anna, to whom he immediately desires. More time passes. Dan, who has been with Anna, impersonates a woman named "Anna" on a chat line and sets up a date with Larry, a stranger. When Larry turns up as planned at the aquarium, Anna is there, but when he describes "their" chat, she disillusions him: "I think you were talking with Daniel Wolf."

Closer starts off by giving you a sweet rom-com vibe (with Damien Rice's Blower's Daughter playing in the background), where strangers meet, falls in love, have a short separation then reconcile, however, it is not that sweet ride you would expect it to be. Our towering romantic hero (as Larry calls him) is Dan who is not that great as he thinks he is. There is a patronizing superiority in his flirts, seen in his interactions with Alice. He is ready to cheat, lie and manipulate in his relationship with Alice to get Anna because he thinks she's the right one for him. Finding love for the sake of love. Alice is the rawest of characters, making it impossible to believe that she could ever lie. Her fault, it seems, is that she deeply loves Dan which makes their breakup scene heartbreaking for me, seeing Natalie Portman act so brilliantly. Anna does not divulge much onscreen, she always seems in control, her desires seldom acting out barring some scenes. Later in the movie, we find out that she is depressive, her actions mainly motivated by guilt. Larry is the most interesting one, a London-based dermatologist, far from an expected sophistication in his character. He is the most blatant in his words, wishing to stay away from the drama but playing his part in it unapologetically.  

Both the male characters want the woman they love quite possessively. It's a power play between Dan and Larry we get to see more than what was between Alice and Anna. Who fucks better? Who can provide better? Who is more desirable than the other? Dan is a sensitive and gentle lover while Larry is robust and kinky. Larry is quick to get into his aggression, wanting revenge immediately after he finds out that Anna slept with Dan. One of the best scenes is the scene of interaction between Dan and Larry which is their only face-to-face interaction in the entire film. "You don't know the first thing about love because you don't understand compromise", Larry says in his interaction with Dan. 

Perhaps, Alice is the only character that behaved like an adult in the movie while all the rest gave in to their temptations, seducing each other for the love of seduction. It is also implied in the ending that she 'saved' the other three sacrificing herself. 

Finally comes the question of intimacy. All of the four characters slept with each other's partners in the hope of intimacy, for them, love was equivalent to intimacy. Dan deeply craved intimacy, wanted to possess his lover wholly, that is why we see even after getting back with Alice he tries to manipulate her to divulge details about her supposed sexual encounter with Larry. He thought he loved Anna, told Alice that he loves her but according to me, never loved any of them. Alice just wanted to be loved that's why she says "Is love not enough?" to Dan when they were breaking up. There is one instance though where we get Dan's idea of love, where he says "Love is disappointing" to Anna. However, this scene, I guess, is deleted from the movie (I saw it in the trailer).  Anna's intimacy is smothered in guilt while Larry uses intimacy to manipulate. 

This movie hit me out of the blue when I just wanted to enjoy a slick rom-com. For the better, I think.