Closer isn’t the kind of film just any random audience would enjoy. It features complex sexual and relationship themes that might leave some viewers cold. The dialogue is often lacerating, as lovers wield swords like spears, striking out to get what they desire. At the same time, the story vibrates with eroticism, bruising laughter and dynamite performances from four attractive and talented actors doing decidedly unattractive things.

Closer questions the nature of relationships and fidelity, as it follows the tangled web created by Dan (Jude Law), Alice (Natalie Portman), Anna (Julia Roberts) and Larry (Clive Owen).

Dan is a British writer of obituaries, and Alice, a young American stripper, meet in the film’s opening scene when a London cab runs her down. Cut to a year later: Dan and Alice are now a couple, but he is suddenly smitten with Anna, a beautiful American photographer. In an ironic twist of fate, Anna meets Larry, a British doctor, and they are soon a couple despite Dan’s continuing obsession. But the entanglements don’t end there, and ultimately, someone is sure to get hurt.

The four players do justice to a script that is humorous, raw and disarmingly honest about adult relationships. Roberts and Law have their moments, but the film truly belongs to Portman and Owen, whose turns are nothing short of astounding. Portman, with her big eager eyes and knowing, seductive smile, lifts the movie to another level, while Owen’s hyper-masculinity arrests.

Closer is an entertaining and thought provoking gem that ultimately poses the question: “How well do you really know the one you love?”

By Tyrone R., Miami, FL.