Closer is comprised of brilliant actors that all gave strong and encompassing performances. It does help when you have a man like Mike Nichols directing, especially in a film like Closer. The sexual tension reminded me a lot of Nichols’ The Graduate in a sense that every relationship had a forbidden or unattainable aspect to it. Deciding who the strongest character was can be difficult, because they all four possessed strong character traits that paralleled their personality. Having to choose one, I would have to go with Natalie Portman’s character Alice (or Jane Jones).
Portman’s character begins the movie and ends the movie. In the opening scene she is walking London streets as if she were floating/gliding. This is also when her and Jude Law first meet, and he becomes enamored by her. This introduction of her character gives the viewer the notion that she has some sort of control over men, perhaps the control that she doesn’t have for herself. Alice and Dan (Law) enter into a relationship that appears to be healthy, but Dan’s actions become questionable due to his book on Alice. The book also leads him to Anna. A scene where I found Portman’s character to have the upper hand was when Dan confronts Anna about having an affair. Alice lets Anna know that she heard the entire thing, but she doesn’t confront Dan about it. She plays the game according to her rules, allowing certain people certain information/knowledge. We also see this when Alice reveals her true name to Larry. Why does she choose to reveal this information about herself to him and not Dan? Portman does a fantastic job of portraying this young woman with a bit of an identity issue who falls in and out of love, but doesn’t quite know who she is or who she wants to be yet.
Good use of picture and You Tube. Alice reveals her true name to Larry in a scene that makes it impossible for him to believe that she is telling the truth. That is important. She knows Larry won't believe her.
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