Closer (2004)
Dan Woolf (Jude Law) meets Alice Ayres (Natalie Portman) when she’s hit by a car and they become a couple. A year later, he meets photographer, Anna Cameron (Julia Roberts) and pursues her, while continuing his relationship with Alice.
After Anna tries to end their relationship, Dan tricks a man he meets in a cybersex chat room, Larry Gray (Clive Owen), into meeting her, planning to humiliate them both. However, his plan backfires when Larry and Anna fall in love and eventually marry. Despite their marriage, Dan continues to pursue Anna.
If all you knew of the state of human relationships in the early 21st century came from watching this adaptation of Patrick Marber’s play, you’d think there were no decent human beings left on the planet. Every one of the four primary characters in this film is a liar and a cheat.
Mike Nichols was a competent director, but appears to have peaked with his astounding first two films, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966) and The Graduate (1967).
Somehow Jude Law always leaves a favorable impression, even if you hate the film. Here, he manages to make Dan’s myriad inconsistencies seems natural.
Julia Roberts had a decade of hits which rivals the success of anyone in Hollywood history. but since her Academy Award winning performance in Erin Brockovich (2000), her career has stalled. She’s trying to break into more dramatic work here, but her instincts were honed for romantic comedy.
Natalie Portman exploded on the scene with her performance as Mathilda in Léon: The Professional (1994), spent six years as Queen Amidala, and won an Academy Award for Black Swan (2010), but Alice Ayres is her most demanding role. Every other performance in the film depends on her ability to be a likeable liar.
Clive Owen doesn’t look like a conventional leading man and sometimes seems too aware he’s being filmed, but this only contributes to his charm.
This is a well-acted, well-directed, and well-written film, but its outlook about the state of humanity is so overwhelmingly negative, I can’t recommend it.
House of Sand and Fog (2003)
When Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connely) mistakenly receives several notices for nonpayment of county taxes, she ignores them. When the county evicts her, Sheriff’s Deputy Lester Burdon (Ron Eldard), advises her to seek legal advice.
While Kathy hires a lawyer to regain her home, the county auctions the property to Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley), a former Iranian army officer and current American refugee who works multiple jobs to maintain a lifestyle he cannot afford.
Kathy believes Behrani has no claim to the house since it was taken from her under false pretenses. Behrani is sympathetic to her plight, but since he purchased the home in good faith, believe it is rightfully his.
Jennifer Connely is best remembered for her role as Sarah in Jim Henson’s nightmarish vision, Labyrinth (1986), and she won an Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind (2001), but her work here is superior. Kathy’s frantic desperation is palpable and creates a sense of dread throughout the film
Ben Kingsley will never be better than his Academy Award winning performance as Gandhi, but Itzhak Stern, Don Logan, and Georges Méliès show him to be an extremely versatile performer, and his work as the proud Behrani is powerful.
The grounded and subtle performance of Iranian actress Shoreh Aghdashloo as Behrani’s wife is the perfect balance to Kathy’s intense desperation.
Unfortunately the great performances in the film are cheapened by the unearned ending. This quite domestic drama about a hopeless woman trapped by the system and a downtrodden man who thinks the system has finally given him a break inexplicably tries to become an important film about race relations. The movie would have benefited from a smaller, less operatic ending.
Girl Happy (1965)
When the boss of Chicago night club singer Rusty Wells (Elvis Presley), laments his daughter Valerie (Shelly Fabares) is going to Fort Lauderdale for spring break. Rusty, wanting a free trip to Florida, volunteers to go with his band to spy on her. Of course, Rusty falls in love with Valerie as soon as gets there.
Elvis films are not subtle, but this film certainly succeeds as light entertainment. The music is fun and the pace is brisk. There’s a funny scene when Rusty breaks into jail to talk with Valerie and, in order to escape detection in a cell with all women, has to dress in drag.
As far as Elvis films go this is pretty entertaining and a decent way to pass an hour or two.