# I saw Mike Nichols' Closer last night **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668 "2005-09-08T16:25:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marque\_elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71c47a/32.png) [@marque\_elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marque_elf)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/1 "2005-09-08T16:25:51Z")
I’ve never seen a movie with a more loathsome group of lead characters. Only one of them was even the least bit likable and she turned out finally to be just as loathsome as the other 3 leads. The acting was excellent. The cinematography was very well done. The script was literate and, perhaps true to life…and I’ve never seen a more unpleasant movie. Did anyone else have this reaction to it? ---
**Author:** ![chefjef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@chefjef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefjef)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/2 "2005-09-08T18:49:51Z")
I think a lot of people have - it’s such an unpleasant reality - that’s the problem - I could hardly handle it. But all those actors are amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/3 "2005-09-08T18:56:05Z")
How did Jane appear loathsome to you? It was just revenge, not something she got off on. He had it coming to him. Why, no, nothingNatalie Portman does could ever seem loathsome to me. Why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/4 "2005-09-08T18:57:31Z")
Because ultimately, she lied to him, too. I didn’t find it particularly engaging, with a bit too much over-the-top emoting. Worth seeing, but not a great film. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/5 "2005-09-08T19:12:12Z")
The dialogue was so artificial that I couldn’t begin to get immersed in it. I give it a ‘meh.’ ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/6 "2005-09-08T21:13:35Z")
> [@marque elf](#): > > I’ve never seen a movie with a more loathsome group of lead characters. Would you like to? Movies by Todd Solondz or Neil LaBute may serve. I disliked **Closer** and view it as an unfortunate demonstration that Mike Nichols no longer knows how to shock or titillate. An old man’s idea of amoral twenty- and thirtysomethings. ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-saw-mike-nichols-closer-last-night/320668/7 "2005-09-08T21:54:51Z")
> [@E. Thorp](#): > > I disliked **Closer** and view it as an unfortunate demonstration that Mike Nichols no longer knows how to shock or titillate. An old man’s idea of amoral twenty- and thirtysomethings. I don’t think Nichols had much to do with the ostensibly shocking and titillating elements of _Closer_ – it’s based on a play by Patrick Marber, and the plot and characters are pretty much the same. (Given that Nichols rather famously promised Portman that he wouldn’t actually show her nude, I don’t know how titillating he was trying to be. Then again, Portman’s never been my idea of titllating in the fist place, so mayhap I don’t know what I’m talking about.) I thought Clive Owen and Portman were pretty good, Jude Law and Julia Roberts weren’t, and the film overall was kind of meh.