Close (I) (2019) User Reviews (313)

A non glossy look at a PPO

[welldai634 · 7/10 · 26 January 2019]

As an ex PPO (Trained, still licensed, but not active) I have to remark that one of the many positives from this movie was it wasn't all 'glossy'. The BG wasn't portrayed as a superwoman who had amazing insights and powers. It came across as she was slightly OCD about surveillance and escape routes (ain't we all?) and a little neurotic and distrustful (again, not a bad thing). The fight scenes were realistic insomuch she took a kicking as she was physically smaller, but possessed the will to drive on and fight out.

All in all, it may not be an Oscar winner as it lacked entertainment value, but being a PPO isn't about providing entertainment. Personally, I think this is up there with 13 hrs in its portrayal of what the Private Security industry is about - poles apart, but professional

Rapace is Fierce

[gensbill · 6/10 · 19 January 2019]

I like Noomi Rapace and have seen and enjoyed most of her movies, at least the ones after the "Girl With..." series. I find her compelling. Although not traditionally beautiful, she has presence with a kind of rough grace that presents as extremely attractive and she is also one of the few women who can pull off high-action movies. If I see she is in something, I watch it, and have yet to be disappointed. Without her in the lead, I probably wouldn't have watched this,

When I saw Sophie Nélisse I couldn't figure out where I had seen her before until I realized she was Liesal and Gilly Hopkins.

The acting was okay; Nelisse an Rapace were effective in their roles. The setting and scenery were fine. The action was well done with only a few weapon mistakes. Overall, I enjoyed the film - it won't win awards but it's better than most action/buddy movies.

Very watchable, if only for Noomi, who is always good.

Solid film

[johnmaloney1 · 7/10 · 12 February 2021]

Deserves a much better rating. One of the better action movies on Netflix - give it a chance.

Enjoyable

[swootten · 6/10 · 24 January 2019]

Good for a casual watch. Suspicious that each ok review has a corresponding poor one. As if someone is trying to talk the movie down (or up). It's certainly not as bad as the 1/10 and 2/10 scores suggest.

Just better than OK

[prairiewalker · 6/10 · 23 January 2019]

Good acting by Noomi and Sophie, doing their best with a script that could have been a lot better. Movie overall had a strong start that faded to a weak finish. On balance, worth seeing because of the two leads.

Sappy and implausible

[13SecondFilmReviews · 24 May 2020]

The opening scene is the best part of this film. From there it deteriorates into a female version of a Dolph Lundgren 'classic.' And the ending is so half-baked that you'll swear the writer threw up his arms and shrieked "You can't expect me to tie everything together, Ms. Jewson!" Netflix is getting noticeably desperate for material.

Almost good

[diehls-08027 · 4/10 · 19 January 2019]

This was pretty good, kick-ass, female action movie until they tried to add a cliched daughter-I-don't-talk-to subplot. As if a bad-ass female HAS to have emotional baggage. And the kidnapped girl shouldn't suddenly be capable of taking down a henchman. But there were moments when the action was intense and the lead actress very convincing.

Not bad at all

[pietclausen · 7/10 · 20 January 2019]

In fact this movie is enjoyable with suspense, action and kick-ass Noomi Rapace to round it all off. The story starts off well but weakens at the end. Nevertheless it provides a well earned hour and a half of pleasant entertainment.

It deserves a rating of 7, more then the average rating of most respondents to date. Just sit back to enjoy and don't be critical about the flaws along the way!

Bland and Nonsensical

[leeprew1 · 3/10 · 19 January 2019]

This exact story has been done to death over the years with varying twists that warrant another go. However this attempt adds literally nothing. There's very little in the way of character building other than the leads being your typical washed-out vet-for-hire and her spoilt know-nothing companion. A right odd couple one might say. They're about as two-dimensional as the sheet of paper the script was written on. At one point Rapace's character's husband turns up and is killed immediately and I couldn't care less. It really adds nothing to the paper-thin story. With okayish acting and silly fight sequences this is a real mess. Netflix is really just throwing money into the wind at the moment but at least it's keeping actors and crews busy, even if more than half of what the turn out is complete garbage like this stinker.

Female Bourne

[pronto1966 · 7/10 · 20 February 2021]

If you like smart, capable women who can kick ass and are great under pressure, then this is for you.

Most of the action sequences are really well done. The hotel bedroom fight where Noomi has her hands tied should go down as an action movie classic.

The story is up and down a bit, but good enough to keep you engaged. Noomi is great, Sophie over acts. The locations, languages and cinematography are exotic and interesting.

I'm hoping they do a sequel with Noomi. If they spend a bit more time on keeping the story tight and more layered, they could have a female Bourne series on their hands.

My rating would normally be mid to high end of 6, I'm giving it a solid 7. Most action flicks with a famous hollywood female lead are completely unbelievable. The lead character in this movie comes off very believable, like someone who could totally kick your ass.

Literally, nothing of note.

[lubegiant · 3/10 · 20 January 2019]

Well, maybe the innovative way of strangling a dude by pulling on his legs while the other chick holds his arms deserves some praise. But then we'd have to get into this whole discussion about body weight and muscle mass of women v. men and get all boring. The only question left after wasting two hours on this unpolished turd is who the hell ordered the kidnapping in the first place? And why? Most importantly, why make movie about it?

Based on a real person, Jacquie Davis. Does NOT deserve 5.5 for sure.

[anastasiaozg · 8/10 · 19 January 2019]

The character is based on a real person Jacquie Davis, the most skillful female bodyguard who has actually saved children, has been shot, stabbed and more (look her up). Finally a good action movie, with no stupid unrealistic car chasing's and unrelatable cold and empty heroes. Noomi Rapace gave an outstanding performance (as always) that definitely lifts the movie a lot. We have seen this type of story before (young rich girl being rescued from kidnappers by her bodyguard etc) but that wasn't a problem for me. I liked the fact that the protagonist isn't the stereotypical hollywood bad-ass woman with no feelings and the strength of a gorilla, she is not necessary stronger than the bad guys, but quicker, more skillful and smarter. Easy watching film, that has smart action that doesn't let you get bored, but not too much action to get tired of it.

Not sure why the rating is so low

[ajlxumuka · 7/10 · 5 February 2019]

I liked it but the rating seems too low . Not everyone can watch and enjoy every single movie so i understand but cmon ive seen 6+ movies that are so bad.. ;d

Some sparks. Mostly ruins

[brokerhenrym · 3/10 · 12 August 2021]

It's an honest 3 star. I am not an emotional movie watcher and I have no vested interest, emotional or else.

Reading through reviews here paints a funny picture of humanity to me. Those who leave 8 stars or higher are ALL saying Noomi is great. And I like her too. And I think she IS great. But why let THAT blind you and allow yourself to praise this total garbage? One has nothing to do with the other. Some of us have a hard time giving an objective score only because she is in it. That is a sad state.

That's the question I ask. Why? And the answer is simple. That's how a lot of male human's brain works.

God bless us.

Enjoyable

[macfaefan · 7/10 · 6 February 2019]

Good story. Well put together. Noomi was excellent. Good acting. Fight scenes were great. I don't think there will ever be enough women in strong roles. So I applaud this movie.

Good B Grade Action Flick

[cazmor · 6/10 · 21 January 2019]

This a b-grade action flick ticks some boxes, but left to much on the table.

The main character Sam (Noomi Repace) is based on real-life female bodyguard Jacquie Davis, and is a good premise for a movie, but they failed to capitalize on what could have been a grittier, edgier story, using far to many cliche's and thread-bear plots lines.

This is most definitely Jewson's baby, whom writes, directs and produces this 'action thriller'.

Rapace acts well, as she mostly does in her films, which carries a lot for the film, boosted by fair performances of both Nelise and Varma. But no matter how good their performances the characters ultimately fail in been properly developed and the audience never really gets to connect to anyone in-particular.

The action is good and clean, with realistic 'close' quarter fight scenes, that would do justice to any action flick, however, the thriller part remained elusive. Although action was well filmed, with clear cinematography, Jewson didn't really make enough use of films location to add to the story.

A fair watch for a lazy Sunday afternoon, for a film that ultimately shoots straight down the middle.

Nosedive

[prakharchawla-78172 · 1/10 · 20 January 2019]

Started with a strong story line in a universe of war retired personnel working as a body guard to rich citizen and considering it a breakthrough to flip the lead role to a woman. So far so good till the action film's action part starts, they should have hired a good fight choreographer to at least not loose interest in the first fight scene. It was maybe 3 times when Noomi Rapace dodged the cartoon character trying to shoot her and fight back with her legs. Post that the film took nosedive into loopholes it kept creating and drowned under its on weight of loosely knit story line. Killing someone with chains around his neck and keeping his hands free, stabbing someone with fish hook and he starts to drown with some weight that is biased to females, or just including a policeman (with mustache) and not showing him die till the end, change in DOB, staying in the place that got breached just few days back, sense less nonsense and shallow acting. Why the title close? Maybe to instruct us to close the browser window.

This movie can be skipped or deleted if downloaded.

Much better than expected

[ysabelkid42 · 7/10 · 15 February 2019]

The opening scenes gave some indication of just how gritty this was going to be. I appreciated Noomi Rapace's fight scenes - she wasn't a superhero with wild martial arts skills, much as I enjoy those; this was totally brutal, dogged, vicious fighting. Even more raw than the original Bourne. Even the spoiled rich kid turned out to be someone I could root for - eventually. The acting was certainly decent enough - I could imagine these being real, fairly unlikeable people, with some character growth to reveal traits that made them worth caring about. Worth a watch.

Who were the bad guys?

[porterjodi · 4/10 · 28 February 2019]

First of all, the sound tract was excessively loud, often times drowning out the dialog. I don't know if they were trying to cover weakly written lines, or if younger sound engineers haven't the knowledge of the importance of hearing the script.

Second, there wasn't a clear and concise revelation of who the terrorists were, and who hired them. Were they just random bad guys? Were they hired by the competing company that was bidding on the mine? Who were they? If it was in the script, I couldn't hear it.

Finally, I liked the strength of the female lead and co-lead. As a female, Krav Maga student, it's important that ladies know how to defend themselves. Well done.

Closely Good

[yogeshevolution · 6/10 · 16 February 2019]

Have watched many movies of kidnap rescue and still this one is nice one. It doesn't impress much but entertains you with good action and little suspense.

Very bad.

[aslanpoura · 2/10 · 18 January 2019]

So bad and very poor action scenes and terrible stunts. I was checking my cellphone while watching this. What the hell did I just watch?!?!

Hats off.

[Nemesis42 · 9/10 · 7 February 2019]

Gritty, realistic, no James Bond style bullcrap hero vibe. Action realistic and logical, which is refreshing, with characters who make common sense decisions for a change. Ending comes in a bit sudden and unexpected and I would have liked to know more about the 'villains' and what the actual blackmail threat was. The film was brilliant up until this ending. Not a disaster, but some things left unexplained.

And yes, Noomi Rapace was quite impressive here. Good job Noomi and the rest of the film making team. Hats off :)

Good to see the force of will as opposed to ninja training winning the day

[stuart_davies · 7/10 · 25 March 2019]

Acting was great and the fight scenes realistic enough if a little predictable. The plot was ok, except where it fell down on maintaining the pace, like when the lead characters kept stopping for a fag and a bit of anguish, or the male rescuer ambles around till he predictably gets shot through the head. The interplay between the two woman started strong, but got a bit soap-ish towards the end. I just found the characters bland and unable to relate to or care about, so I wasn't that bothered what happened to them by the end of the movie. Worth a watch, just don't expect much entertainment.

Flat feminist flick. Bad acting, bland storyline

[ottojeffefc · 3/10 · 19 January 2019]

Netflix movies are hit and miss, this one is a miss. Love movies with a strong female lead, Atomic Blond / Prometheus this is not. Honestly, dont waste your time, I watched maybe 2/3 of the movie before I just couldn't endure anymore. The other bad reviews are spot on. I dont like to leave bad reviews, but the world would be a better place without this film. Its really that bad. The only reason I rated it a 3 is Noomi Rapace is in it and I like her as an actor.

underrated, good drama

[boryagin · 7/10 · 26 April 2020]

I was first confused because of the low rating. It was 5.7 and I don't watch anything under 7 points. But I was bored and it was available on Netflix. The movie opened with an intense action. Fresh and unusual. So I was intrigued enough to keep watching.

So it was not a masterpiece but definitely not a bad one at all. My rating is solid 7 points. There is drama and action. An unusual main character. Not very deep or complicated. Plot is pretty simple. But 20 percent into the movie I was hooked up and watched till the end. I was even nervous at times which happens to me very seldom while watching shows or films.