Hautnah - Closer

Eine Soap-Opera für anspruchsvollere Zuschauer*innen. Provokativ, frech, schleimig, geschickt gedreht (im Hinblick auf die Interieur-Möglichkeiten) und vor allem fantastisch gespielt. Liebe, Falsch, Intrigen, Rache. Im letzten Drittel ist es aber schon zu viel – ein wenig Leichtigkeit wäre nicht schlecht gewesen. (23.03.2005)

A huge disappointment for me, unfortunately... the whole thing was chaotic and above all insanely sleazy. The only one who kept her poise in my eyes was Julia Roberts. So overdone and needlessly depressed. Clive Owen was completely unappealing here and Natalie Portman seemed so flaccid. Jude Law was once again a little off... Even though the film was up for 4 stars, I'm only giving 3 and will try to forget the whole thing. (11.02.2011)

An intimately conceived romantic drama, clearly inspired by the theatrical version, whose success is supported by excellent dialogues, a quality screenplay, and top-notch acting performances. Since the film is based on a play, a significant part of the story takes place indoors, somewhat resembling a more expensive television production. All four of the engaged stars deserve the highest rating for their performance, although Julia Roberts lags behind just a bit. It is reliably directed by the experienced Mike Nichols, with visually appealing shots of Natalie Portman dressed as a stripper, which will be sure to attract male viewers. Compared to the theatrical version, the film concludes much more sentimentally and romantically. Overall impression: 90%. (21.06.2006)

When a relationship is a personal danger and the thought of a more serious commitment suddenly becomes unpleasant. Nichols knows how to implant an unbearable bug of uncertainty and ignorance over loved ones and thus sounds the alarm about the meaning of their search. Sometimes you just don't want to know everything about the other person, and only a minute after midnight will you realize what was the key aspect of your emotions. The mystery of the other. And then it's too late to avoid all the cruelties because no matter what you say now, nothing will ever be the same. You will lose yourself and yet still be close. By touch - but without it. Emotional mess, but cinematic perfection. (17.07.2005)

“Where is the love?” Scenes from relationship life for the 21st century. Nichols does not in any way try to disguise the film’s theatrical origins; on the contrary, the chosen structure (several long conversational segments), perfectly timed dialogue and classical music accentuate them. It is only after the encounter at the exhibition that he begins to cut between the individual couples’ dialogue scenes, thus giving the impression that their stories are more closely intertwined and influence each other to the point that they cannot be together because of the others (the flashback to the signing of divorce papers, which is interspersed with Dan and Anna’s conversation in the theatre, serves the same purpose). I consider the big jumps in time, which we are usually informed about ex post and as if in passing through dialogue (we’ve been dating for four months, we got together a year ago, he left me three months ago...) to be a courageous decision, as they bring the film closer to a time-lapse documentary that captures only the turning points of relationships. Unlike Bergman, however, Closer is not a carefully nuanced psychological drama, but a contrived melodrama full of walking (arche)types, “chance” encounters and bookish-sounding lines, and throughout its runtime, I wasn't sure to what extent it was aware of its own exaggeration and unnaturalness or the extent to which it was convinced that it was revealing the unvarnished truth about love and relationships, or something along those lines. Many scenes, such as the bitter conclusion, graphically illustrating the fact that we often truly get to know even the most beloved person after they have left us (i.e. when it is too late), suggest that the simplistic characterisation of the characters was a way to convey a universal, almost allegorical story in which everyone who has ever experienced the ambivalent feeling of not knowing whether to kill or fuck the one you love (as in the last dialogue scene of Dan and Larry) can see themselves. So, there is some sort of life lesson to be learned from that. Personally, however, I prefer films that don’t pretend to have depth where there is none. 70% (22.02.2017)