Yeah. Great movie. I remember being really affected by it when it came out. And the Damien Rice music! Just rewatching the (slightly NSFW) trailer reminds me of what a knockout the movie was.
It's one of those movies that seems to say that monogamy is impossible. I think there's a lot of truth to the movie, and a lot of interesting stuff about how casually brutal people can be to those that they're supposedly in love with. While I don't think everyone is like the (let's be honest) often selfish characters in the movie, we've all had moments of weakness or said things to our partner that we later regretted. There's a rawness to the way the movie depicts relationships that is really rare in modern pop culture. (It's not surprising that the movie is based on a play.) And while you're not likely to find someone like Natalie Portman at a strip club, the movie still contains a lot of truth.
Also, it's rare to see a movie where characters talk so frankly about sex. And I don't mean frankly in the gross-out/shock manner of a movie like Superbad or Bridesmaids. I mean like adults in relationships talking about sex one-on-one. This isn't the squirmy, adolescent boy view of sex that's played for laughs in so many movies. The dialogue is often blunt, which is why I think the movie made many people uncomfortable. While I can think of plenty of movies with raunchy dialogue, there aren't many in recent years that took such a warts-and-all view of relationships and sex.
Contrary to what the movie may suggest, I don't think that monogamy is doomed. But, as the movie shows, it takes work. And some people aren't capable of it.
And, yeah, that Damien Rice music. Wow. The slow motion scenes with Natalie Portman and Jude Law passing on the street kills me. Now let's watch the awesome video for Damien Rice's "The Blower's Daughter." Ever notice how at the end of the song, after he says "I can't take my mind off of you" over and over again he adds, "...until I find someone new." Fitting for the movie.
I loved the movie too! Frequent re-watcher and it still hits me pretty hard. I was interested to hear your theory on why she changed her name though! (Or at least why she never told him the truth in the long-run)
Well, I think she picked another name from the get-go because, for a reason that's never revealed, she doesn't want to be her real self in London -- she can only be herself in New York, and she doesn't like that person, which is why she chose to go to England.
However, by choosing that false name, she's establishing her relationship with Jude Law's character as a lie from the very beginning. It puts into perspective everything deceitful that Jude Law's character did -- because no matter how dishonest he was with her, she based their relationship on dishonesty. Which is why Jude Law is so stunned when he sees the plaque.
I wondered which woman Jude Law really loves - Julia Roberts' character or Natalie Portman's. It's difficult to tell, he goes back and forth. I thought he loved Julia Roberts most, but then he tells Portman that the moment he saw her in the street was "the moment of (his) life"