SINS OF OMISSION - Entry #8: CLOSER (2004)

Running Time: 104 minutes
Directed By: Mike Nichols
Written By: Patrick Marber
Main Cast: Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman, Clive Owen
Click here to view the trailer

WHAT IS A "SIN OF OMISSION"?

As noted many times in the recent past here at the "1001 Movies I (Apparently) Must See Before I Die" blog, in the next 12 - 18 months the ultimate goal of this blog will transform from 'one man's journey to watch all 1001 movies in the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book' to 'one man's journey to create his own, personal canon of 1,000 favorite films and show "those 1001 people" just how it's done! Sins of Omission will become a regular feature on the blog where I'll take one film that WAS NOT included in any incarnation of the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" book and DOES NOT appear on the next list of 1000 films that I plan to tackle, give it a formal review and make it a permanent part of my list, which is entitled: 1000 Films You REALLY Should See Before You Die: A Personal, Ongoing Canon of My 1,000 Favorite FIlms.

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK

So, like I said at the end of yesterday's post, I plan to do three more of these (four if you count this one) between now and the next week or so, so that my "1000 Films You REALLY Should See Before You Die: A Personal Ongoing Canon of my 1,000 Favorites" list can be sitting at 250 movies. Anyway, I'm plucking all of these off my DVD shelf because as one might expect, I own quite a few of my own favorites. I first saw this one when it was released on DVD, back in 2005 (when I was working at my second video store) and fell in love with it right away. Read on...

The film, in my estimation, is just a piecing together of many different conversations between the four main characters. We start out with Daniel (Law) and Alice (Portman) approaching one another, while walking down opposite, equally busy sidewalks. They make eye contact & share a moment and before she knows it, Alice is in the street and getting struck by a taxi cab. Fortunately it's not a serious crash and Alice comes to about ten seconds later, locking eyes with Daniel - this time a lot closer. He escorts her to the hospital, where the two mingle while waiting to get Alice's split open knee tended to. They're introduced and there seems to be some chemistry. We learn that Daniel is an obituary writer and that Alice is a former stripper, now on a journey in England (where the film takes place). Fast forward many months and we find Daniel in a photographer's studio, getting his picture taken for the book jacket of his new novel. The photographer is Anna (Roberts) and the two talk and, once again, Daniel finds chemistry with a complete stranger. The two share a kiss, before Daniel's now girlfriend Alice comes to pick him up. She happens to overhear a conversation the two have, where Daniel requests to meet Anna again, in private. Fast forward again and we meet Dr. Larry (Owen), a dermatologist who we first encounter as he chats with a woman named "Anna" in an adult chat room. What Larry doesn't know, but what we, the audience, do is that "Anna" is actually Daniel. Daniel (as Anna) offers to meet Larry the following day at an aquarium and Larry agrees. When he gets there, he runs into Anna (the real one this time) and after a confusing start, the two hit it off. The film keeps fast forwarding little by little, peeling back layers of this love quadrangle, until all four hearts are shattered, mended and then shattered again.

Man, Mike Nichols seems to be the master of showing us the breaking of hearts and the ins & outs of rocky relations. He started his career off by showing us four very different characters in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and nearly forty years later he introduced us to four more interesting, sometimes hard to watch characters. I wonder why it is that I'm so fascinated by relationships falling apart in movies? I can watch something like "Scenes from a Marriage" and just let my heart break right along with Liv Ullmann, likewise for Natalie Portman in this and somehow, through all of the heartbreak, find a certain fascination. Perhaps it's because I've never REALLY had a broken heart. My wife and I get along more than swimmingly, with barely a disagreement and so maybe is all draws back to fascination of the unknown. Yeah, that makes sense.

The film gives us four fairly complex characters and allows us to turn them over in our hands, feel the rough edges and get to know them for a couple of hours, through the use of, what I consider to be, fantastic character development. Trust me guys, you will be hard pressed to find better acting. Sure, there are probably hundreds of better performances, but let's just suffice it to say that all four of the mains here pour their hearts out for our viewing pleasure and it's a treat to watch all of them. I have to give a special kudos to Julia Roberts, whom I promise you've never seen better! I'm usually not a fan of hers and as far as I'm concerned, she's WAY overrated. But then I watch her in "Closer" and realize maybe she's underrated. She's fantastic here. The scene where she and Clive Owen have a screaming match - Owen prying for details of his wife's affair - is acting gold! Not to mention Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen - which this picture had a hand in making me fall in love with all three. I never really cared much for Law, but after seeing both this and his version of "Alfie" back in '05, it was difficult not to like him. Like Roberts, he's probably never been better than he is here. Portman and Owen are always solid in my opinion, but they shine here too amongst their two peers. For more Portman magic check out "Garden State", from around the same time and for more from Owen, I'd recommend either "Croupier" or "Derailed" (one that never got enough love, if you ask me).

Be a fan of dialogue if you decide to give this one a try, because if you can't appreciate good words being hurdled like whiffle balls between four fantastic characters, then you won't enjoy yourself here. Also, don't expect happy endings or flowery exchanges, as this movie just doesn't have them. It's a hardcore look at relationships, both in and out of the bedroom. Can I also add that for a movie that relies so much on the sexual goings-on of it's four main characters, I think it's amazing that it features not one sex scene and barely features nudity (save for a rogue breast in a strip club scene - but it's of an extra, not even one of our mains). However, male fans of Portman will be delighted to know she shows up in a skimpy thong, during a particularly memorable scene involving Clive Owen in "The Pleasure Room" of a strip club, where he hounds her for her real name while throwing twenties at her. Trust me, Portman has never looked better - and I'm not just talking about the thong scene.

Anyway, it's a gem of a movie, as far as I'm concerned, one that I don't think a lot of people have discovered. If you haven't and if you can handle the downtrodden nature of the whole affair, check it out. I for one love the atmosphere and despite NOT being a depressive myself, usually feel more at home with blue movies. The English location also lends itself to the story, as a cloudy sky is sometimes featured to add that extra bit of gloom to the whole thing. Big thumbs up!

RATING: 8.5/10  Fantastic acting, great characters, realistic dialogue that really makes you feel the passion of the characters make this one an easy choice for my personal list. Welcome aboard.

459. The Graduate (1967)

Running Time: 106 minutes
Directed By: Mike Nichols
Written By: Buck Henry, Calder Willingham, from novel by Charles Webb
Main Cast: Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross, William Daniels, Murray Hamilton
Click here to view the trailer

A DOUBLE SHOT OF NICHOLS: 2 of 2

Our short, but respectable two-film salute to Mike Nichols comes to a close with, probably, his most popular feature ever, "The Graduate". I had seen "The Graduate" several times prior to this particular viewing and it just goes to show you that every time you watch a film, you have the opportunity to see it completely different.

Dustin Hoffman is Benjamin Braddock, and as the film opens he's on a plane, returning home from college, from where he recently graduated. When he arrives at home, he lacks the demeanor of someone who has just triumphantly graduate from school and when he's questioned by his father as to why he seems troubled, he responds by saying that he's unsure about his future. Ben does what is socially expected from him at his graduation party, mingling with guests and allowing his cheeks to be squeezed by old ladies and hands to be shook by elder gentlemen, all of which have known him since he was a child. Later in the evening, Ben is approached by Mrs. Robinson (Bancroft), who requests a ride home, stating that her husband had to leave unexpectedly. Ben drives her home, though he doesn't want to and Mrs. Robinson continues to push the button further, forcing him to come inside, saying that she doesn't feel safe at home, alone. Eventually it becomes clear that Mrs. Robinson IS trying to seduce the young, inexperienced Benjamin, but he resists. However, shortly after his twenty-first birthday and sometime after the graduation party, Ben remembers the seductive qualities of Mrs. Robinson and gives her a call, ready to welcome her advances. They begin an affair with one another, meeting at the Taft Hotel and doing literally nothing but having sex. But things change when Ben is forced onto a date with Mrs. Robinson's daughter, Elaine (Ross) and ends up falling for her.

SPOILER ALERT!

Let me elaborate on my above statement of seeing a picture differently every time you watch it. I meant that in a negative way, first of all. I've always loved "The Graduate" and when I'd watch it in the past, I'd leave it with nothing but positive things to say about it. However, after last night, I realized a gaping criticism. I watched the film last night and when it ended (and even before it ended), I noticed that it was a lot more comedic than I remembered it. Now, when I say "comedic", I don't necessarily mean in a good way, although there are some good bits of comedy in the picture. When I say "comedic", what I really mean is unconventional. In the film, Ben meets Mrs. Robinson and after some consideration begins an affair with her. Ben spends his summer days lounging in the pool and meeting Mrs. Robinson at the hotel. He later admits that she is really the only thing that he has to look forward to and enjoys her company. Then, despite Mrs. Robinson's objections, Ben meets and goes on a date with Elaine Robinson. He tries to put her off, but when he realizes he's really hurting her feelings, he stops being a jerk and starts being a gentlemen and the two end up having a good time. Then, moments before their second date is to begin, Mrs. Robinson warns Ben that if he continues to see Elaine, the she'll tell her about their affair. Ben, wanting to tell Elaine before Mrs. Robinson does, runs to her room and before he can actually say what's going on, Elaine figures it out for herself and date #2 is null and void.

Now then, my gripe kicks in right about here, as Ben then proceeds to basically stalk Elaine, moving to Berkley (where Elaine attends school) and planning to propose to her. We find out later that Mrs. Robinson ended up telling Elaine that Ben raped her, but Ben tries his best to set her straight. When the ending comes, Elaine has decided to marry another man, but Ben interrupts the wedding, taking Elaine with him. The two hop a bus and ride off into the sunset together. Now...that sounds absolutely ridiculous! Where was this "love" that Ben eventually establishes with Elaine come from. The two have one date, share a bag of french fries and all of a sudden he's in stalker mode, ready to marry her. The first half of the film is top notch, as twenty-one year old Ben and forty-something Mrs. Robinson engage in sneaky behavior, to hide their affair. But then Elaine is added into the mix and all of a sudden everything gets a little too goofy for my tastes. Mrs. Robinson forbids Ben to see Elaine, at first, but we never get a real explanation as to why. She mentions something about Ben not being good enough for Elaine, but then she takes it back and apologizes for it and we never know if she means it or not. And if she doesn't think he's good enough for her, why exactly does she think that. Does she think what they're doing is scummy behavior and doesn't want her daughter dealing with men who would do such things? We never really find out.

Then, Elaine enters and like I said, Ben falls head over heels for her within hours. It would seem to me that realistically, Ben would have more of a connection to Mrs. Robinson, the woman that he just spent the summer having sex with, the woman who brought companionship to his lonely nights, the woman that took his virginity. It just doesn't seem right that he'd give up his time with Mrs. Robinson after one night with Elaine. Also, why would Elaine want anything to do with Ben after her mother told her that he raped her? I don't know, but this whole "romance" between Elaine and Ben just didn't feel genuine at all and when the entire climax builds to their running away together, it's not much of a climax. I realize that this isn't reality, it's fiction and it isn't a drama, it's more of a comedy, but the music and the mood don't feel like a comedy, for the most part. In fact, "The Graduate" doesn't really feel like a comedy, until all of the lunacy in the second half.

Now, I'm not saying I hate "The Graduate" or anything. I still think it's a really good picture and it's probably even a "must see". I'm just saying that it was a big disappointment to finally come to some of these realizations. The acting is great, for the most part. Hoffman carves himself a career in the span of one movie and the woman of few words, Anne Bancroft plays a great cougar, before "cougars" even really existed. However, Katharine Ross was dreadful. The music was a big part of the film too, as Simon & Garfunkel belt out tunes from "The Sound of Silence" to "Mrs. Robinson" and a few others in between and their music really gels with the tone of the film. Some of the editing techniques that were used, were really brilliant and I think this is one of the best and most well put together montages I've EVER seen. I'll quit while I'm ahead. It's a great picture and please don't let my gripes prevent you from at least giving this one a shot. I think, for the most part, that it's well worth your time.

RATING: 7.5/10 I like the movie and I know we're dealing with an adaptation here, but I just wish everything would have worked out differently for these characters, because they were great characters.

MOVIES WATCHED: 371
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 630

December 18, 2011 6:31pm

454. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Running Time: 134 minutes
Directed By: Mike Nichols
Written By: Ernest Lehman, from play by Edward Albee
Main Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Click here to view the trailer

A DOUBLE SHOT OF NICHOLS: 1 of 2

If you've been keeping up with the blog, then you know I've been in a bit of a slump, as of late. Last night when I popped in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", I was hoping for something that would break me out of my slump and "WOW" me. That's what I got!

The film is based on a stage play and actually only has a cast of four (unless you count the bartender, when the couple go dancing). The primary characters are George (Burton) and Martha (Taylor), a couple in their forties, who rely on games and bickering to keep their marriage fresh. When the film opens, we see the couple arriving home from a party, at around 2:00am Sunday morning. They're both a little drunk (Martha more than George) and they begin cursing at one another almost immediately. You get the feeling that this is normal around their house, as George swallows insults from Martha, as if he gets them on a daily basis. After a few minutes pass, Martha informs George that they'll be receiving guests and that they should be arriving any minute. Not really in any condition to receive, but not wanting to fight with Martha, George puts his game face on. The guests are Nick (Segal) and Honey (Dennis), a twenty-something couple, Nick being a member of the biology department, at a university, where George is also a professor. What follows over the course of the next two hours is a lot of awkward moments, fighting and the bringing to life of a fantastic script by Ernest Lehman, as the film is very dialogue driven, as it follows the two couple until the break of dawn.

I had seen "Virginia Woolf" once before, but I may have been just a hair to young to really grasp how good it was. Either that, or I just have a really bad memory, because I didn't remember this picture being this good. This film incorporates a lot of what I look for in a movie, personally. It has a very small cast, which provided me with a certain intimacy among the four characters and myself. The script is almost nothing but dialogue, which is another factor that highly plays to my personal tastes. The setting moves a few times, but for the most part we're in George and Martha's living room and I love films where we stay put. In fact, if I had to pick one thing to gripe about, in regards to this movie, it would be that I wish we had never left the living room, or if nothing else, at least the premises of George and Martha's home. When the film forces us into the car and into a crummy, little roadhouse, I kept wishing we had just stayed put. But that's nitpicking at it's maximum and really, it's no big deal.

Also, if you want to talk about top notch acting, look no further than Burton and Taylor and their performances in this movie. Taylor certainly deserved her Oscar and as far as I'm concerned Richard Burton was even better than Paul Scofield (who won the Oscar for Best Leading Actor that year, for "A Man for All Seasons"). It's not the best acting I've ever seen, but if I were forced to make a list of, say the Top 50 performances I've witnessed, I wouldn't be surprised to see Burton AND Taylor take two spots. They really laid it all out there and by the time the film came to a conclusion and the characters were finally able to slump their shoulders, it was a bit of a relaxing moment for me as well. The film is REALLY exhausting, in that it provides the viewer with a roller coaster of emotions and rarely turns down the intensity.

This movie really forced me to think, but not about anything but this movie. It made me wonder about the characters, as they took on a real life for the duration of the film and I felt like a third guest at the party. I felt awkward, right along with Nick and Honey, as George and Martha fought, letting obscenities fly and not being shy in front of their guests. For a while, I was able to really connect with Nick, in that I seemed to feel everything that his character was probably feeling. The film made me wonder about George and Martha, much like Nick probably wondered. Was this couple EVER happy? Was there ever a time when they weren't at each others throats? It's funny how this film really takes you around the to each character and for me, there were certain points where I identified and sympathized with each of them. I felt sorry for George when the film first started, seeing Martha as a nag who never gave him a moment's peace. Then Nick enters and I can totally identify with him, as he bears witness to this very strange couple. Then, later, George gets a little more vicious and I started to sympathize with Martha a little more. It makes you wonder why they didn't flesh of the character of Honey a little more, instead of making her a "mousey" wife, who couldn't hold her liquor and spends 90% of the film in a drunken stupor.

This film is very close to being perfect. From the dialogue, to the characters, to the setting, to the ways it makes you feel, it doesn't let up. I loved the little piece of music too, that started and ended the film and how when it played at the end, it kind of warmed me and wound me down a bit. I'm becoming more and more of a fan of films that are based on stage plays, because they almost always seem to appeal to me. Maybe I should actually start going to see plays.

RATING: 10/10 Screw it, I'm going all in! It's hard to give this movie any less than a full course rating, because it's just so good. Consider this one a "slump buster". Next up: "The Graduate".

MOVIES WATCHED: 370
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 631

December 17, 2011 10:12pm