Romance and Reality, finally the two shall meet
...at least, in the movies anyway. Just watched Closer last night and was really blown away by it. Probably one of the best movies I've seen in quite a while. The performances were really good, Clive Owen is just amazing, Natalie Portman did her usual great thing and I like Jude Law in almost everything he is in. Even Julia Roberts did an okay job, much better than her usual roles, but maybe that's because in this movie she actually had some smart things to say.
Which brings me to the "realistic" part. Okay, true, there's no way that a obituary columnist, a stripper, a photographer, and (especially) a dermatologist has that many great things to say. Almost every conversation had layers. Every phrase had biting wit. The writing was excellent in this way, and was the only thing that distracted from the realism. But it didn't bother me, I'll trade smart writing for realism any day.
Mostly, the reason this movie is so good is that it's one of the few big movies to treat love in a real way. It had believable situations with the way real men and women act, and treat physical love as the same (and different) than emotional love. It didn't have the bubblegum start, middle, or ending. The pace of the movie kept me involved. I found myself cringing and smiling at the same time, especially in the 2 scenes with Portman and Owen.
Someone told me that she didn't think I'd like it because I normally don't like the movies with cheating in them. That's true. But that's because in most movies, the cheating is somehow rewarded, or at least the cheater goes unpunished (Reality Bites comes to mind). Or even when they do, they still get taken back in the end, like in Unfaithful. That crap drives me nuts. In Closer, the characters don't pretend that love has its seediness, it's ugly side, and that people stop being people once they are in love. For that honestly alone, this was a great movie.
Love at first sight? Thought,
choice, action, and consequence
Closer to real life
Which brings me to the "realistic" part. Okay, true, there's no way that a obituary columnist, a stripper, a photographer, and (especially) a dermatologist has that many great things to say. Almost every conversation had layers. Every phrase had biting wit. The writing was excellent in this way, and was the only thing that distracted from the realism. But it didn't bother me, I'll trade smart writing for realism any day.
Mostly, the reason this movie is so good is that it's one of the few big movies to treat love in a real way. It had believable situations with the way real men and women act, and treat physical love as the same (and different) than emotional love. It didn't have the bubblegum start, middle, or ending. The pace of the movie kept me involved. I found myself cringing and smiling at the same time, especially in the 2 scenes with Portman and Owen.
Someone told me that she didn't think I'd like it because I normally don't like the movies with cheating in them. That's true. But that's because in most movies, the cheating is somehow rewarded, or at least the cheater goes unpunished (Reality Bites comes to mind). Or even when they do, they still get taken back in the end, like in Unfaithful. That crap drives me nuts. In Closer, the characters don't pretend that love has its seediness, it's ugly side, and that people stop being people once they are in love. For that honestly alone, this was a great movie.
Love at first sight? Thought,
choice, action, and consequence
Closer to real life
posted by shelton brett | 10:49 AM
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