Customer Reviews
Classic Poliakoff? - By: Dyspeptic Spirit, 20 May 2007 
I adored both Shooting The Past & Perfect Strangers but have found Poliakoff's recent work to be rather disappointing, particularly Friends & Crocodiles. I was therefore interested to watch this drama.
Close My Eyes reminded me a lot in style of another recent work Gideon's Daughter and, as with that drama, the story never reallly gripped or involved me & the characters lacked credibility to my mind. I found it hard to believe that Clive Owen's character would be the type to become obsessed with his sister given his confident nature & obvious attraction to women. I would have found it more likely if his sister had been the one out of control since her character seemed more depressive & lacking in self worth. Alan Rickman's character, Spencer, I found out of place & not reallly believable.
Having said that, it is an enjoyable & at times absorbing drama which handles difficult subject matter thoughtfully. However, the sex scenes never reallly got beyond the tepid which left the drama lacking the obvious passion it required. The cinematography was excellent as we have come to expect from Poliakoff.
Close My Eyes is certainly worth a view but the uninitiated ould be advise to start with the two classic works first.
English cinema at its best - By: Ralph, 03 Nov 2006 
This is an overlooked gem of British cinema. Perhaps thanks to its controversial plot it is branded controversial & yet it is a thoughtful & thought provoking film as well as being a master class in cinematography : London has never looked so good.
The atmosphere of late 1980s / early 1990s Britain is, for better or for worse, captured perfectly by Poliakoff's film & his three leads are uniformly superb. Rickman who, having read the original script, was an odd choice for Sinclair is as compelling as ever while Saskia Reeves & Clive Owen are brilliantly convincing. The supporting cast - especiallly Karl Johnson - is excellent as well.
In retrospect the plot is fantasticallly prescient & the added attraction for anyone who has worked in or knows the City of London is the choice of locations (Broadgate Centre, Finsbury Circus, the Docklands, etc).
There are very early examples of Poliakoff's quirky cinematic trademarks (the opening scene of the punks on the bowling green with the little girl, the later brief scene of the down & out in Broadgate Circus drinking the dregs of wine from abandoned glasses) & the incidental music achieves the rare feat of adding to & not detracting from the film's ambience.
For those of us who have been disappointed by his recent work this is a reminder of what Poliakoff can produce.
Wonderful drama - By: open ears, 30 Oct 2006 I was so pleasantly surprised to find "Close my eyes" a gorgeous, gripping movie. The performances of the three leads are superb & very natural, & the scenery & cinematography is a real treat for the eyes.
The script was so good that I looked in vain everywhere to see if there was a book to buy as well.
I loved it so much that I bought the DVD after i bought the VHS.
This is the kind of movie that stays with you after you see it.
You be the judge on value for money! - By: Cs Chapman, 13 May 2006 
This film had a good solid story, but lacked something bordering on the emotions of everyday relationships which are doomed for disaster. It is a good viewing, & Rickman plays his parts well, however, a little more in his 'bed' scene would have been more pleasurable! There are humourous scenes like when Rickman (Sinclair) floods the kitchen, & desperately tries to get in touch with his wife (played by Saskia Reeves) & then it becomes clear to him then that she's anything but faithful. If your an Alan Rickman fan, then it's definitely worth the watch, anything with Alan Rickman is worth the watch!!!! It's got some great footage of AR on DVD extra. Happy viewing.
Not Good - By: Denise Barnett, 28 Mar 2006 
I was unable to view this DVD as it began to "FuZ" & then completley froze. I gave it up as a bad job & returned to Amazon with a note to say exactly what happened & to send the next one on my list to be the first for this month. Pleae view this DVD which will confirm my findings.
