‘Closer’

Jodie Krafft, Kansas University student, Lawrence

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If you enjoy movies brimming with sexually explicit talk but no action, choose “Closer.” Director Mike Nichols brings together A-listers Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen for a dramatic film about power and deceit. The cast play Londoners whose paths are hopelessly intertwined through their multiple sexual encounters and relationships with one another. Portman is magnetic and Law, commendable, but Roberts is disappointingly flat. The dialogue is explicit and painful, but moments of witty banter are woven in, meriting an occasional snicker. “Closer” is a gritty reflection of relationships and how we so often sabotage them. Though it’s easy to relate to this film in some way, the only places I’ve seen this much sex swapping are on “The Real World” and “Passions.” The film is all talk and no action, but then again, what relationship isn’t?