Closer

"If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking."

2004 1h 44m EN

👍

6.8

SOLID

★6.8TMDB · 3,831

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.

“If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Jude Law
Dan
Natalie Portman
Alice
Julia Roberts
Anna
Clive Owen
Larry
Colin Stinton
Customs Officer
Nick Hobbs
Taxi Driver
Steve Benham
Car Driver (uncredited)
Elizabeth Bower
Chatty Exhibition Guest (uncredited)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mike Nichols
Writers: Patrick Marber
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jude Law and Natalie Portman and Julia Roberts carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0376541 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mike Nichols directs. Stephen Goldblatt behind the camera. John Bloom cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.3× over at the box office.
2Released 22 years ago.
3International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
4Directed by Mike Nichols, shot by Stephen Goldblatt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor John Bloom shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jude Law and Natalie Portman and Julia Roberts carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "If you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking.".
8IMDB entry: tt0376541 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "infidelity", "secret love", "husband wife relationship", "cheating".

The technical file

Cinematography: Stephen Goldblatt
Editing: John Bloom
Production design: Tim Hatley
Costume design: Ann Roth
Makeup / hair: Christine Blundell
VFX supervisor: Olaf Wendt
Stunt coordinator: Ray De-Haan
Runtime: 104 min · 1h 44m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $27,000,000
Box office: $115,505,027
Return: 428% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Closer (2004)

Awards

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Mike Nichols

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

tmdb395137282015-02-04
Menage a Quatre You may like Closer because of its flawed characters and their doomed relationships. I like it because it's square. The assorted combinations of love and friendship, scorn and resentment, among two males and two females are literally geometrical. Typically, the dependable love triangle pits three characters together, often a heterosexual convention establishing a male lead zig-zagging between two females, or a female lead choosing between two male suitors. What if we include an extra character? How many triangles can be made with four individuals? Four! And Closer expertly covers them all. Next time you see it, draw out a square with each character occupying a corner. Then connect each of the couplings and triangles as they occur, beginning with Julia-Jude-Natalie. Jude falls for Natalie, introduces her to Julia who gets intimate with her camera. The Jude-Clive-Julia triangle is a clever one. Clive is introduced when Jude seduces him online pretending to be Julia who he meets at the aquarium. Often when a movie script or stage play adheres to a strict formula, it turns out flat and predictable. Not Closer. Applying a quadrangular network forces each character to cover all the bases, tagging up every way possible, pushing each juncture to the limit.
CinemaSerf2024-04-21
★ 7/10
Writer "Dan" (Jude Law) likes to spend his evenings, when not with his American girlfriend "Alice" (Natalie Portman), teasing other blokes on sex-chat sites. One night he sets up doctor "Larry" (Clive Owen) with a promise to meet at the aquarium with "Anna". The horned up physician duly turns up, only to discover that meantime "Dan" has vengefully despatched the real "Anna" (Julia Roberts) - his part time lover/photographer, to unknowingly meet him instead. Embarrassed looks, sighs and "Larry" feels like a prat but, maybe the outwardly rather aloof "Anna" is interested? What now ensues is all a bit entertainingly far-fetched as an unwitting ménage-à-quatre emerges, becoming increasingly more intimate, then loving, then manipulatively toxic. Are any of these people destined to find happiness with any of the others. Quite frankly, do they deserve it and do we care? I've always found Owen as wooden as a washboard, but here - especially sharing the screen with an on-form Portman, he actually seems to be able to act (a little). His character, I found, comfortably the most odious of the four. Portman is the star of the show, though. Her portrayal of the needy sex kitten vacillates from provocative to desperate with a compelling ease. There's frequently some vitriol in the writing and the juggled storylines well paced as this story of unlikeable people moves along quickly. I think this might work well on stage, it has a characterful intensity to it, but on screen it's well worth a watch - even if it's all a pretty grim appraisal of human behaviour.
Narate2025-01-01
★ 6/10
"What's so great about the truth? Try lying for a change, it's the currency of the world." Unpleasant people: The movie! I couldn't believe I hadn't seen this yet and now that I have I have 2 thoughts. First thought is that these 4 really did acted their parts well in this and second... I felt nothing for them by the end.