Closer (2004)

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Plot Summary

Dan ( Jude Law), a writer of obituaries for a newspaper, sees a beautiful girl ( Natalie Portman) across the street in London. When she looks the wrong way before crossing and gets hit by a taxi, Dan runs over to her side. The girl, dazed but all right, looks Dan in the eyes and says, "Hello, stranger." Dan accompanies her to the hospital, and chemistry brews between the two as they talk. She is an American who used to be a stripper, and he is an aspiring novelist. As the girl is discharged, she and Dan walk for a bit, and pass by Postman's Park, where there are plaques dedicated to ordinary people who sacrificed their own lives to save others. Dan is about to leave for work, but then stops and musters up the courage to ask the girl for her name. She smiles, and introduces herself as Alice Ayres.

The film flashes forward to one year later--Dan and Alice have been in a relationship ever since, and he has written a novel based on her life. He is in the studio of American photographer Anna ( Julia Roberts) to have his picture taken for the book jacket. Anna tells Dan she read his book and liked it, though she recommends a different title: "The Aquarium." It is clear that Dan is very attracted to Anna, and after some flirtatious conversation, they share a heated kiss. Anna immediately regrets it, but Dan persistently asks to see her again. Alice, who has been working as a waitress at a cafe, shows up and behaves cordially towards Anna, asking if she can be photographed by her. Though she feels uncomfortable and guilty, Anna agrees, and Dan leaves to go have a drink at a nearby pub. When the two women are alone, Alice reveals that she had heard Anna and Dan's earlier conversation. Anna attempts an explanation, but Alice cuts her off, saying "Just take my picture," with tears streaming down her face.

Another year later, Dan is still obsessed with Anna, and decides to play a prank on a random stranger in an internet sex chat room. Pretending to be Anna, Dan baits a dermatologist named Larry ( Clive Owen) to meet at the aquarium so that he can have sex with "Anna." When Larry goes to the aquarium, Anna is there by pure coincidence. Once the misunderstanding has been cleared up, the two chat, and Larry buys Anna a balloon when he discovers that it is her birthday. The two begin a relationship.

Four months later, Anna is having an exhibition of her photos, and Dan and Alice have been invited. Alice is clearly worried about losing Dan to Anna, though he dismisses her concerns. At the opening, Larry strikes up a conversation with Alice, recognizing her from the photo of her crying. Meanwhile, Dan wears Anna down and convinces her to have an affair with him.

A year passes--Anna and Larry have gotten married, though Anna has been cheating with Dan ever since the night of her exhibition. Dan comes home late to his apartment to tell Alice of his affair, and that he wants to be with Anna. Alice is heartbroken, and while Dan is distracted, leaves the apartment without any goodbye. At the same time, Larry has happily returned home from a business trip to New York, telling Anna about how he looked for her book of photos in the Museum of Modern Art, and bought a postcard of her photo of Alice to boost Anna's sales. Later, though, he confesses to Anna that he had cheated on her in New York with a prostitute. Anna does not mind, and tells Larry of her affair and intent to leave him. What follows is a raw and mean fight in which Larry demands Anna tell him of the sordid details: where they had sex, how Dan was as a lover, what acts they performed on each other, etc. Upon Larry's goading of "What does (Dan's cum) taste like?," Anna finally faces him and yells "It tastes like you but sweeter!," to which Larry responds, "Thank you for your honesty. Now fuck off and die. You fucked-up slag."

Some time later, Larry wanders into a strip club, which happens to be the one in which Alice is working. He pays for a private dance with her and tries to confirm she is the same girl he'd met at Anna's exhibition, but she keeps insisting her name is "Jane Jones."

Later still, Larry and Anna meet; he professes to still love her, but she refuses to go back to him, and asks that he sign the divorce papers. He sets the condition that she let him have sex with her one last time, to which Anna reluctantly agrees. After the act, Anna goes to see Dan, but when he discovers what she did, he becomes upset and the two fight and part.

Another year passes; Anna has gone back to Larry, and a desperate Dan visits Larry's office to plead for him to let her go so that "she can be happy." Larry, smug with victory and completely unsympathetic, responds that Anna is a depressive who does not truly wish to be happy, adding that she had never turned her divorce papers in to her lawyer. Dan breaks down in tears, which prompts Larry to encourage Dan to go back to Alice, giving him the name and address of the club she works at, saying that while he did see Alice naked, he did not sleep with her. Dan is grateful and turns to leave, when Larry says that he lied--he did have sex with Alice.

In a hotel room near Heathrow Airport, Alice and Dan are back together, about to take a trip to New York together. Despite their happiness, Dan cannot help himself, and asks Alice for the truth as to whether she slept with Larry. She denies it, but he does not let it go, unsure if she is being truthful. Alice then calmly tells Dan she no longer loves him; that it is over, and she did indeed sleep with Larry that night he visited her at the club. Dan admits he already knew that she did, making Alice angry that he had tested her. She tells him to leave, but the argument escalates to the point that Dan almost strikes Alice. She insults him and tells him to do it, and finally he slaps her face.

Larry and Anna remain together, though it is clear there is no longer any trust in this marriage, marred by infidelities and the ugliness of their actions.

In London, Dan is walking by Postman's Park again, and takes notice of one of the plaques which reads "Alice Ayres." Alice returns to New York alone, and when she goes through customs, a shot of her passport reveals that she had been telling Larry the truth all along: her real name is Jane Jones.