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Closer | 2004 | R | - 8.4.8

Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman star in this comedy/drama about four people whose paths cross, they fall in love, become couples, one couple's path crosses the other's and their relationships begin to crumble when infidelity ensues. Also with Michael Haley and Steve Benham. Directed by Mike Nichols. [1:40]

SEX/NUDITY 8 - A woman in an exotic dance club performs for a man in a private room: we see her bare back, he asks her to spread her legs, which she does, and then pulls her panties to one side to expose herself to him (his head blocks our view); then the man asks her to remove her clothing, and to lean over and touch the floor while he looks at her. A man forces his wife to describe sex acts in which he participated with another man, and she lists several. Two men converse in a sex chat room online (one does not realize that the other is a man): they talk about sexual fantasies (including numerous partners), they describe what they do while masturbating, and one man unzips his pants. We see an exotic dance club in a couple of scenes, with scantily clad women (bare breasts and buttocks are visible) dancing around poles while men watch. A man lies in bed in a robe (we see his bare chest and legs), a woman (wearing a tank top and boxer shorts) jumps on top of him and they kiss. A man and a woman kiss in several scenes. A man and a woman walk toward each other, she touches his face, and they kiss. A man touches a woman's face tenderly and they nearly kiss. A man kisses a woman's neck and asks her if she will have sex with him. A woman admits having had sex with her husband in order to get him to sign divorce papers. A man confesses to his wife that he has been unfaithful with a prostitute. Men admire a woman as she walks along a street wearing a low-cut top and tight fitting pants. A woman tells a man that she is an exotic dancer. We see photographs of nude women with bare breasts and buttocks. A woman is shown in her underwear (cleavage, bare shoulders, bare abdomen and thighs), and a woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A woman wearing a short skirt (bare thighs are visible) walks toward a man and he admires her.

VIOLENCE/GORE 4 - A woman is hit by a car (we hear a screech and see her lying in the street) and we see her later with a bloody knee and a scratch on her forehead in the hospital. A man threatens to kill a man. A woman spits in a man's face and he slaps her across the face. A man yells at his wife, and a man yells at a woman. A man talks about his mother having died when he was young. A woman confronts another woman about having kissed her boyfriend. A man talks about thinking that he could beat up another man. A man talks about his job being to write obituaries. A man and a woman walk through a cemetery for people who died while saving others.

LANGUAGE 8 - 35 F-words, 31 sexual references, 6 scatological terms, 13 anatomical terms, 9 mild obscenities, 4 religious exclamations.

SUBSTANCE USE - People are shown smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol.

DISCUSSION TOPICS - Love, lust, fear, cowardice, grief, pain, kindness, guilt, sex, deception, obsession, trust, pity, happiness, depression, forgiveness, intimacy, commitment, marriage, infidelity, loneliness, euphemisms, separation, feelings, desire, honesty, lying, jealousy, divorce.

MESSAGE - Honesty and fidelity is the only way to maintain a healthy relationship.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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