Closer

Review:  So this is a movie that never intrigued me all that greatly when it came out, but I heard so much good stuff about it and I am a big enough fan of the actors in it to give it a go.  I will say I came away quite impressed.

This is a very well made, well written (almost too well written), well acted movie that is real, entertaining, if not flawed.  The movie centers around four people whose lives become interconnected through a series of events that start an epic love quadrangle that is more real than you would think.  

Through this storyline you get to see all the characters at their best, and their worst.  You see these people struggle with trying to find happiness and getting themselves to believe whatever they need to in order to convince themselves the love they feel is real.  The movie is a tragedy more than anything else as the characters realize by the end that ultimately, for these people, love isn't the only thing that matters, there is compromise that is a necessary part of love, even if that love is not the intense butterfly in the stomach feeling.  

The flaws of this movie amount to it being written to cleverly.  The characters have a slight sense of unbelievable-ness as they sling their witty dialogue at each other without even thinking.  Also, the movie jumps ahead in the story line, months or even years at a time and doesn't give the audience any clue and makes them figure it out for themselves.  While I appreciate the filmmaker thinking his audience is intelligent enough to figure it out, it can be confusing at first and takes a small bit away from the movie.