Closer is for those who hate the falseness of Hollywood endings and maybe even hate life itself. The trailer is touting this as a sexy love square involving Julia Roberts, Jude Law, Natalie Portman and Clive Owen as two couples who become unwisely intertwined, but the film is too pessimistic to ever raise much of a pulse. Mike Nichols (The Graduate) directs from a British play, and neither he nor the talented cast can overcome the material’s claustrophobic staginess.
