[Spoiler Alert]
Closer is a movie about fear and maturity. It is about lonely people seeking lovers capable of fulfilling themselves and saving them in a certain way. People looking for strangers to entertain them in a childish attempt to find their own happiness. And they cover their fears with lies until the very end of the movie.
Dan lies to Alice for a year not telling her that he is dating Anna. Anna hides her feelings for Dan from Larry and Alice lies about his real identity to everyone the whole movie (except in the scene in which Larry asks her real name in the strip club, because she knew he was not going to believe it anyway).
Ironically, the only character that always tells the truth is Larry, what does not redeem him from his rudeness against people. Attitude which equals him to the others in the maturity level.
Each of the four characters idealize people, fall in love and start relationships when they are actually not ready for them. They never try to figure out why the relationships are not working, they simply jump to another crush when they are bored or face the other person imperfections, showing immaturity to deal with problems. Dan falls in love with the beautiful red-haired foreigner and then suddenly goes after the pretty photographer in a demonstration of unstable emotions.
The movie is full of smart dialogues and outstanding quotes. Most of them performed by the characters of Portman and Owen, which received some nominations and won a few awards for their supporting roles. I guess Alice most memorable quote defines the movie accurately. In the strip scene she says to Larry "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off - but it's better if you do." And this is what the movie brings us: an intricate and fascinating plot of individuals living a world of lies to fill their empty lives with fleeting pleasures. The director allows us viewers to be closer enough so we can see the dynamics of this relationships that reflect perfectly well the complex nature of our interactions in the world as human beings and the masks we use to hide ourselves and live as strangers.
