--- title: "Closer" year: 2004 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/closer" fi1m_id: "closer" imdb_id: "tt0376541" tmdb_id: 2288 wikidata_id: "Q212098" fi1m_score: 63 critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 11 published: "2026-09-28T00:53:58.667089+00:00" updated: "2026-09-28T00:54:08.805045+00:00" region: "FR" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Closer (2004) Directed by Mike Nichols · 1h 44m · CNC 12 · Drama, Romance ## Identity Closer - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/closer - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** closer - **IMDb ID:** tt0376541 - **TMDB ID:** 2288 - **Wikidata ID:** Q212098 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0376541/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/2288, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q212098 **Fi1m score: 63** · Critics 66 from 11 reviews *In a sentence:* Four handsome people take it in turns to tell the truth as a weapon, and Clive Owen is the only one who means it > Mike Nichols films Patrick Marber’s play with taste and a fine cast, and the taste is the problem. Clive Owen is savage and superb; the rest is handsome, watchable and a little too pleased with its own lines. ## Synopsis A drama about love at first sight and what it costs the people who believe in it. Dan (Jude Law) meets Alice (Natalie Portman); Anna (Julia Roberts) and Larry (Clive Owen) complete the four. The film’s tagline sets out the trouble with all of them: if you believe in love at first sight, you never stop looking, and nobody here stops. Patrick Marber’s screenplay builds the film almost entirely from confrontations, two people in a room, one asking questions the other would rather not answer, and the questions are blunt ones, about sex, about lying and about who wanted whom first. It runs 104 minutes and carries a 15 certificate, most of it earned by what is said rather than what is shown. ## Review *Closer* began as a play by Patrick Marber, one that was rude about love to audiences who liked to think they were grown up about it. Mike Nichols’s film keeps Marber’s four characters and his lines and puts them in rooms so tastefully lit that the rudeness has nowhere to sit. It is a good film with a good cast and one great performance, and it is a few degrees cooler than the material wants to be. The pleasure is in the writing. Marber’s people say the unsayable in complete sentences, and the film is built from confrontations: two of them in a room, one asking questions, the other answering more honestly than is wise. Nobody in *Closer* lies for long, which is what makes it uncomfortable. Nichols and his editors, John Bloom and Antonia Van Drimmelen, let time pass between scenes without a caption, so we work out how long it has been from a haircut or a new flat. Clive Owen is the reason to see it. Larry is a man who has worked out that telling the truth is the cruellest thing he can do and has decided to enjoy it, and Owen plays him with his weight on the back foot and something close to a smile. There is a scene in which he asks a series of questions he already knows the answers to, quietly, one after another, and we flinched; we had braced for shouting and it was the calm that did it. He is also the only one of the four who looks as though he lives where the film is set rather than visiting it for the shoot. Natalie Portman gives Alice a hardness under the sweetness that pays off in ways we will not describe, and she recites the house rules to a man old enough to know better and wins every exchange. Jude Law is well cast as Dan, a man who wants to be interesting more than he wants to be kind, and that is not quite a compliment: he is charming in every scene and we could not find the person under the charm, and we are not sure the film could either. Julia Roberts has the hardest part. Anna watches and withholds, and Roberts plays her at a murmur, which is brave and often right, but when the script hands her its ugliest lines she says them as though apologising for them. Stephen Goldblatt shoots it in cool greys and clean whites and keeps the camera still, so the actors have nowhere to go but each other. Tim Hatley’s flats are clean, pale and underfurnished. Ann Roth dresses Dan, Anna and Larry in the muted good taste of people with money and puts Alice in whatever was nearest, so she is the only one who looks as if she got dressed in a hurry. All of it is elegant. None of it is dangerous, and the play was. Nichols has been here before. *Carnal Knowledge* (1971) followed two men through decades of wanting the wrong women and let nobody off. *Closer* is the same subject with better manners, and the manners cost it. The lines that shocked a theatre audience arrive here as quotations. We admired a good many of them and, some time in the last half hour, noticed that we had stopped caring who they were aimed at. See it for Owen, and for a script that says out loud what most films about affairs only imply. Watch it with someone you trust, because it will start a conversation, and expect the conversation to outlast the film, which runs a brisk 104 minutes and carries a 15. *Fi1m score 63, published 28 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Closer worth watching?** *Closer* is worth watching for Clive Owen and for a script that says out loud what most films about affairs only imply, and we scored it 63. Mike Nichols films Patrick Marber's play with taste and a fine cast, but the taste cools it, and the lines that shocked a theatre audience arrive here as quotations. **How long is Closer, and what is it rated?** *Closer* runs 1h 44m and is rated 12 by the CNC in France. It is a drama and romance film. **Where can I watch Closer in France?** *Closer* is available to rent from Apple TV from €3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How violent or frightening is Closer, and is it suitable for children?** *Closer* is not violent or frightening, but it carries a 15 certificate, most of it earned by what is said rather than what is shown. The film is built from blunt confrontations about sex, lying and who wanted whom first, and it is for adults and older teenagers, not children. **How does Closer compare to sex, lies, and videotape?** *Closer* and [*sex, lies, and videotape*](https://film.one/film/sex-lies-and-videotape) both put four people in rooms and let the truth about who wants whom do the damage, but the earlier film is the smaller, sharper and quietly funnier of the two. Soderbergh's has kept better; Nichols's is handsomer and more elegant, and has one great performance in Clive Owen, but its manners cost it the danger the play had. **What should I watch after Closer?** After *Closer*, try [*Sex, Lies, and Videotape*](https://film.one/film/sex-lies-and-videotape) (1989, Fi1m 83): Four people, a camera and the truth about who wants whom. Then [*In the Mood for Love*](https://film.one/film/in-the-mood-for-love) (2000, Fi1m 91): An affair that never quite happens, and hurts more than most that do. ### Reviews we read (11) - **Empire**, Olly Richards (85/100, inferred): Richards praises the film as a sharply voiced, structurally daring drama. He singles out Jude Law’s performance as its anchor, alongside the ensemble’s award-calibre work. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/closer-review/) - **The AV Club**, Scott Tobias (80/100, inferred): Tobias finds the film a potent, sardonic return to the provocative style of Nichols’s early work. He praises its uncompromising examination of betrayal and the difficulty of lasting love. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/closer-1798200274) - **Total Film**, Total Film (4/5): The review finds the film cynical but compelling, with its crackling script, deft direction and strong cast making it a likely awards contender. It particularly praises Natalie Portman's performance, while noting that Jude Law is less convincing in his role. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/closer-review/) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (3/4): Ebert gives the film a measured, mixed-positive review. He singles out the sharp dialogue and the performances of its four leads. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/closer-2004) - **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott (70/100, inferred): Scott presents the film as a deft adaptation, indicating a favorable verdict. He singles out its adaptation of Patrick Marber’s well-known play for praise. [Read](https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/videopages/2004/12/03/movies/20041203_mm_CLOSER_VIDEO.html) - **Radio Times**, Adam Smith (3/5): The review finds the drama’s direction elegant but its dialogue stagey. It praises the performances, singling out Clive Owen as the standout. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-nt5x22/closer/) - **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (2/4): Gonzalez dismisses the film as precious, artificial, and middlebrow rather than genuinely complex. He praises Julia Roberts and Jude Law for performances that feel raw and earthy amid the film’s synthetic characters. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/closer/) - **The New Yorker** (50/100, inferred): The critic finds the film more civilized and less acidic than the play, with a mixed overall effect. Portman and Owen are singled out for delivering their lines with relish, while the film’s pace sometimes overwhelms the performances. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/goings-on-about-town/movies/closer) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (20/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the adaptation dull, saying its stage-born tensions and confrontations wilt on screen. He singles out Clive Owen as the only cast member who feels emotionally real. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,4267,1389604,00.html) - **Eye for Film**, Chris (90/100, inferred): The critic strongly recommends the film, while warning that its abrasive sexual arguments will not suit everyone. They especially praise the four lead performances and the tightly scripted, psychologically incisive writing. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/closer-film-review-by-chris) - **Collider**, Liam Gaughan (75/100, inferred): The critic finds Closer a sharp satire that makes its flawed characters difficult not to empathize with. They single out its conversations and Natalie Portman’s pink-wig performance as revealing the performative nature of relationships. [Read](https://collider.com/closer-movie/) ## Details - **Director:** Mike Nichols - **Director:** Mike Nichols - **Screenplay:** Patrick Marber - **Cinematography:** Stephen Goldblatt - **Editor:** John Bloom, Antonia Van Drimmelen - **Production design:** Tim Hatley - **Costume design:** Ann Roth - **Producer:** Cary Brokaw, Mike Nichols, John Calley - **Cast:** Jude Law as Dan; Natalie Portman as Alice; Julia Roberts as Anna; Clive Owen as Larry; Colin Stinton as Customs Officer; Nick Hobbs as Taxi Driver; Steve Benham as Car Driver (uncredited); Elizabeth Bower as Chatty Exhibition Guest (uncredited) - **Runtime:** 1h 44m - **Certificate (CNC):** 12 - **Release (France):** 18 January 2005 - **Genres:** Drama, Romance - **Also in:** [Golden Globe Best Drama winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-drama.md) (Nominee, 2004) - **Budget:** $27 million - **Box office:** $116 million ## Where to watch in France - Apple TV: rent €3.99, hd - Apple TV: buy €5.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-27.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HR, HU, IN, IS, IT, JP, KR, NL, NO, PL, RO, RS, SE, SI, TR, UA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 2005: Best Supporting Actor (nominated); Best Supporting Actress (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Carnal Knowledge* (1971): Nichols on the same subject, thirty years earlier and with far worse manners. - *Scenes from a Marriage* (1973): Bergman’s two people in rooms, saying what they mean and regretting it. - *Betrayal* (1983): Pinter’s affair told backwards, with the silences doing what Marber’s lines do. - *Sex, Lies, and Videotape* (1989), Fi1m 83: Four people, a camera and the truth about who wants whom. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/sex-lies-and-videotape.md) - *In the Mood for Love* (2000), Fi1m 91: An affair that never quite happens, and hurts more than most that do. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/in-the-mood-for-love.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/closer