Closer

Closer (2004) takes place between four people, and all four lie to each other constantly. Dan is a journalist, Alice a stripper, Anna a photographer, Larry a doctor. The film spreads their relationships over years and never shows the time in between. A year can pass between two scenes, and we work out what changed without being told. The method is this: every scene is a confession or an interrogation. Nobody makes small talk; everyone asks the hardest question directly. There is a section in an internet chat room that was, even in 2004, the cruellest and funniest thing in it. It is adapted from Patrick Marber's play, and Mike Nichols knew both the play and the film; the theatrical structure is kept. There is an interest Nichols had carried since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf: two people taking each other apart with words. Clive Owen played Dan on stage; in the film he plays Larry. You are not required to like anyone, and the film is not asking you to. It runs 104 minutes. Good for: relationship drama, sharp dialogue, and stage adaptations. Less good for: the characters are unpleasant, sex is discussed explicitly, and the film forgives nobody.