TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Dana
An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.
Leofwine_draca
A bit of a strange film, this one. It should be brilliant: the central concept of the incestuous relationship should be harrowing, horrifying, devastating in equal measure, but the film never fully explores the consequences of the brother/sister pairing. In fact, it's a film in which nothing much really happens, despite the dramatic potential.Clive Owen and Saskia Reeves both work hard to convey sympathy as the siblings caught up in a living nightmare, but director Poliakoff shoots the whole film as a romance when in reality a more horrific approach might have worked. The characters are also a mystery; Reeves fails to elicit much sympathy at any point, while Owen's bullish stalker comes across as more of an obsessive villain than anything else.I spent the whole of this lengthy, slow-paced film waiting for an explosive denouement, and while there are some decent bits at the climax, it never pays off. You finish the film thinking 'Oh, was that it?' instead of being wowed by what you've just watched. And for a movie to waste Alan Rickman in an entirely boring and superfluous supporting role is something of a travesty.
Theo Robertson
This involves two people Richard and Natalie embarking on an illicit affair . Bad enough that Natalie has just got married but the relationship goes beyond adultery since Richard is Natalie's brother . Yup you read that right . If you thought the incest plot from BROOKSIDE was bad you ain't seen nothing yet Stephen Poliakoff judging by his previous work isn't a bad writer but he's written a very poor script here . It's been pointed out that there's no motive / explanation as to why Richard and Natalie have embarked on their incestuous relationship which is a mistake by the writer and is there a poorer subject for an audience than incest ? Alan Rickman is an actor who I can take or leave , he's certainly best cast as cartoonish villains and as Sinclair the husband of Natalie he seems unable to do anything with the role . I also had a serious problem understanding how anyone could fall in love with Sinclair , he's one of those bores you find at every golf club propping up the bar as he tells everyone what a success he's made of his life , but even so I doubt if that would have been enough to drive Natalie into the arms of her loving brother - YUCK . If anyone gives an outstanding performance then it's Clive Owen as Richard , you almost feel sorry for him as he realises the relationship is over but seeing as the relationship is with a blood relative you may as well feel sorry for Adolph Hitler in that case
clemato
The film is really haunting and keeps you spellbound. While the film appears to portray sex scenes for nudity's sake, that's not really what is going on.Okay, okay, this is no Pulitzer Prize winner and Alan Rickman, Clive Owen, and Saskia Reeves can act better than they do in this movie. Butt, I think they each brought so much into the picture that other, less talented, actors would have failed to make this film work as well as it did.The dynamic between Natalie, her brother Richard, and her husband Sinclair is very strange. If you let yourself go and immerse yourself into the story, then you can enjoy it.The story is about very taboo subject matter, at the time when AIDS/HIV finally came into the public consciousness. But, I do think the screenplay by Stephen Poliakoff is very well written and the film strongly succeeds because he also directed it.I can compare the story to that of Jane Campion's "The Piano". It is risqué, bizarre, and seemingly shallow. It is also thoroughly compelling. The characters are otherworldly and mysterious, yet very commonplace. You can almost identify with them and by the end of the movie you will find yourself wanting to know more. It is as if you have been looking into a snow globe at a fantasy world come to life, just on the other side of the looking glass. Everything is madness for this trio...."Close My Eyes" is a journey into the "What if ? ". The most difficult question is, "Why ? ". Only Natalie and Richard can answer that question, or can they? If you are a fan of Clive Owen, Alan Rickman, and/or Saskia Reeves, check it out.
gridoon
"Close My Eyes" deserves credit for its unexploitive treatment of a highly charged subject matter. On the other hand, I found it just a bit dramatically monotonous. However, it's worth seeing for its sensitivity and its good acting. Alan Rickman, in particular, is very interesting in what could have easily been a thankless supporting part. (**1/2)
