Two Lovers

Gwyneth Paltrow is like Italian ice cream on a summer day. Vinessa Shaw is like hot chocolate on a winter morning. Why can't I have them both? It's just not fair!

Here's an intensely absorbing indie-film, being released simultaneously in a few select cities and on digital pay-per-view. That seems to be a popular new way for smaller films to reach larger audiences. And believe me, "Two Lovers" deserves as large an audience as it can get. This will definitely end up being one of the best films of 2009.

The title and the trailer make it evident that this is a romantic drama in which one man is torn between two very different women. That man is Leonard Kraditor (Phoenix), a generally introverted man who has moved back in with his parents after a failed relationship. He is interested in black and white photography, but works in his father's dry-cleaning business. He is governed by depression, fending off thoughts of suicide with prescription medicine.

His parent's friends are also in the cleaning industry and they are considering a possible merge, which Leonard could one day take over. Their beautiful daughter is Sandra (Shaw), who is soon "fixed up" with Leonard. They nervously take the first steps into a new relationship, soon developing a comfortable rhythm that feels cathartic and safe for both.

Soon thereafter, Leonard stumbles into Michelle (Paltrow), an energetic blonde who moves into an apartment on the floor above. She is hyperactive and fun, representing a slightly more dangerous undertaking for Leonard. She becomes an even more enticing challenge when he finds out that she is kept by a wealthy married lawyer who repeatedly promises that he will leave his family for her.

One girl is safe and comfortable. The other is unattainable and risky. The film follows the labyrinthine emotional maze that Leonard has to navigate in order to find out what will make him the happiest. It is a fascinating journey that pulls the viewer back and forth as we try to make his decision for him.

Phoenix is naturally one of the most emotionally weighty performers in recent memory. He almost always carries around an anvil of angst in his roles -- and it is on full display here. Leonard balances on the edge of torment and ecstasy, never managing to fully commit to either. It is a marvelous effort -- I only hope it is not his last film, as he has recently hinted in interviews.

Paltrow is this critic's idea of silver-screen heaven. She lights up the screen in ways that render the film projector completely unnecessary. This is one of her most emotionally charged roles since "Hard Eight". Her character is scarred and needy, hidden beneath a veneer of nonchalant smiles. The part was written with Paltrow in mind - she absolutely does it justice.

I have been crazy about Vinessa Shaw since I first saw her as Domino in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "Eyes Wide Shut". She has a serene quality that fits this role perfectly. I am not sure there is an actress who can emote as subtly as Shaw can. As Sandra, she represents the hope for a peaceful, kind and safe existence with Leonard. It is just a matter of convincing him that those things are what he wants. Shaw is remarkable in every scene and deserves award consideration.

Heck, all three of them should be considered when Oscar rolls around in 2010. This is an ensemble, which includes a superb turn by Isabella Rossellini as Leonard's mother, that ranks as one of the best of the decade. "Two Lovers" is an actor's film -- allowing them to live and breathe on screen. The characters are fully realized, three-dimensional people who we can care about long after the fade-to-black.

James Gray is a patient director. His work includes "The Yards" and "We Own the Night". He is unafraid to let the characters develop without feeling the urge to stamp his name all over the production with needless flare. He is confident enough to let his writing do the work. Gray is fast becoming one of the more intriguing talents in the business.

"Two Lovers" is an honest and authentic film that requires a thoughtful, attentive and mature audience. The emotions are complex. The consequences are tangible. I really cared about what happened to these characters. How often can you say that about a movie? Absolutely do whatever you can to find this independent gem.

TC Candler's Movie Reviews

For the first time in his short directing career, James Gray moves away from crime and asks a simple but highly pertinent question; should you chase the one you love or be with the one who loves you? There is no histrionics or emotional trickery on offer here, this is a smooth, intimate character study that burns with a downbeat intensity.

The movie follows troubled Leonard Kraditor {Joaquin Phoenix terrific and heartfelt}, who after a failed suicide attempt {his fiancée left him you see} finds his parents {Isabella Rosselini and Moni Moshonov} setting him up with Sandra Cohen {Vanessa Shaw} the cute daughter of potential business partners. Things look promising until Leonard encounters Michelle Rausch {Gwyneth Paltrow in a highly effective turn}, who is baggage central yet exciting and sexy. Gray then pulls the threads of this threesome together and lets things play themselves out without manipulating the audience.

Raising issues of infatuations, last chances and maybe even desperation's, Gray's picture is a very different love story-come-drama. Atmospherically it's tone perfect, a moody sense of sadness hangs heavy courtesy of Joaquín Baca-Asay's cinematography, particularly with the Brighton Beach segments. And Gray even manages to add a dash of suspense as we enter the crucial last quarter of the piece. You may not like the characters here, but that may well be the point? Perhaps ask yourself if Leonard is meant to be sympathetic anywaY? Regardless, and the film is sure to throw up a level of division, Two Lovers at least deserves to be given the chance to show you what it has to offer. So try it, maybe once, maybe twice, but do give it a go, because it's unlikely to leave your thoughts some time afterwards. 7/10

I liked this fourth film of James Gray very much. It is interesting, nuanced, well photographed and directed. The casting is very fitting: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow and Isabella Rossellini require no introduction - every film where they appeared was a kind of success.

I liked the story line precisely for the reasons some of the critics did not - inconclusiveness of the situation. The narrative should not be treated as a moral tale with prescribed behavior and a suggestion to act certain way. For some of us, who lived and experienced, life situations have no clear conclusions, especially in the matter concerning personal relationships. And so we are shown various geometrical configurations of relationships between people: A loves B, B loves C, C loves D; D perhaps does not love anyone; C can not settle for B and returns to D when D calls; B settles for A. Who's right and who's wrong? Luckily this is not all there is about this film. There are interesting shots, exotic locations (Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY), very good acting.

Some reviewers complained that the narrative is too predictable - perhaps. I personally would prefer more broader metaphor, perhaps more connection with social dimension, more resonance between personal and social. Oh well, I hope this is coming in the next Gray's films.

I use the word "normal" to mean "real world normal", meaning NOT perfect. These people have issues, they don't know necessarily what they're doing with their lives, they are on medication, the film begins with a suicide attempt. And yes, in the real world this is certainly more normal than chasing through an airport to a swelling symphonic soundtrack and declaring a perfectly rehearsed monologue to the person you love, followed by rapturous applause from everyone at the gate. "Two Lovers", while lacking in the sort of clichés and melodrama that makes theatergoers all starry-eyed, delivers one of the best love stories I've seen on the big screen.

Don't be fooled by the title; this is not a steamy tale of infidelity and illicit passion. It's about a person who is faced with a mostly theoretical choice between 2 lovers. We've all been there. Whether you're married, in a new relationship, playing the field or just dreaming "what if", in matters of the heart there's the sure thing, and then there's the crazy impulsive route.

Jonquin Phoenix plays "Leonard", a man whose life recently underwent an upheaval and who simultaneously meets 2 women: "Sandra" who is the sure thing (Vinessa Shaw) and "Michelle" who is the crazy route (Gwynneth Paltrow). As the relationships slowly develop (very slowly, at a real world pace), we start to see the conflict not in terms of passion & romance but in terms of life choices.

Refreshingly, Leonard is a character who knows what he wants from the beginning, so the audience isn't insulted with annoying "what should I do" scenes. Rather, Michelle is the one who represents the unknown, speculative bet in Leonard's world. As the story progresses, all of Leonard's actions are consistent with his feelings, and it's just a matter of seeing how things will play out. Again, this is such a great, unusual, non-Hollywood approach to love stories which, if you really analyze your own experiences, is probably much more in line with the way you handle yourself.

Despite this stability of the main character, the story remains unpredictable right up to the final minute. No sappy airport chase scenes here, but I guarantee you'll be riveted in the final act. If you want to see a story that you can apply to your own love life, regardless of your situation, check this out for some deep insight.

Gray's fourth film, his first without a crime element, is amazing, and surprises even with its title. It's a triumph for Joaquin Phoenix, who provides a remarkably giving and open performance even though the character he plays, Leonard Kraditor, is opaque. He's a damaged, emotionally unstable man with attempted suicides in his past: the film, cheerlessly--yet ironically--begins with yet another one. He does know his own sad history, dominated by a broken engagement. On medication for bi-polar disorder, he's been reduced to living with his parents in the Russian and Jewish community of Brighton Beach, Gray's home territory, site of 'Little Odessa,' his distinctive little first film and equally of his subsequent, more grandiloquent ones. (The last, 'We Own the Night', also starred Phoenix.) Leonard doesn't know who he is or what he wants. He may not dare to want anything. He's working, fumblingly, in the dry cleaning establishment on the ground floor that's owned by his Pop, Reuben (Moni Moshikov). He's lost clothes making deliveries; and he's lost himself.

A friend of Leonard's father, Michael Cohen (Bob Ari) has a small chain of dry cleaners Pop's going to merge with. Cohen has a daughter, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), whom the parents have set up with Leonard. He's only a little interested. But he does take her into his little boy's bedroom to show her his black and white photographs of destroyed shopfronts. He's so needy, he welcomes any attention. Sandra is very interested in him. She finds him not odd, but special. And she has a sweetness about her than lingers in the mind.

But then another woman unexpectedly appears: a new neighbor, the blond and dangerous Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow). Even at their first meeting in the hallway she's in trouble, being verbally abused by her visiting father, and in need of comfort and protection. And from then on whenever Michelle calls on Leonard, however bad the time or awkward the occasion, he can never say no. She's pretty, even glamorous, but also unhealthy. She's been on drugs. Leonard can see her window upstairs from his room, and she becomes a glittering object of desire, so near and yet so far. Because he wants her, but she thinks of him from the first as like a brother.

So there are the "two lovers"--Leonard's two women, Sandra, who knows his problems and wants to take care of him, and Michelle, who knows them and takes advantage to make him a comforting pillow in her troubles with Ronald (Elias Koteas), her married lawyer boyfriend. Michelle has Leonard come to a fancy restaurant to meet Ronald and size him up, tell her if he thinks Ronald will ever leave his wife. Instead, while Michelle's in the ladies' room, Ron asks Leonard to watch out for her and see that she's not using again. Then Michelle and Ron go off to his firm's box at the Met and leave Leonard in the company limo. It's a sobering moment that defines Leonard's lostness and the film's originality.

Leonard seems a misfit and a loser, but when Michelle takes him clubbing, he does some rapping in the car and break-dances wildly; he's got some game, somewhere. He also has those strong Jewish Russian family ties that run through Gray's films but don't save his protagonists from disaster. His mother Ruth (Isabella Rossellini, with a severe haircut) watches kindly over him and both his Pop and Cohen are ready to look out for him too. Shooting photos at Cohen's son's bar mitzvah, Leonard is part of a community, however awkwardly. He meets Michelle up on the roof. She doesn't fit in. But he wants her desperately. Meanwhile Sandra declares her love to him at a beach-side restaurant with complicated blue napkins.

'Two Lovers' is aswarm with an elaborate sound design that can be obtrusive. Background music overwhelms conversation at a family gathering, and an echoing passage from 'Cavalleria rusticana' is a bit overdone. It's more firmly glued together by images of long subway rides and dark expensive cars. Though the latter may seem leftovers from Gray's 'The Yards' and 'We Own the Night,' Gray has done a good job of downsizing from those while holding onto their resonance.

Joaquin Phoenix's performance is awkward in a way that would be very painful if it didn't feel so authentic and real. His Leonard is pathetic and lost, but has an inner core of goodness and generosity that makes it seem there may be hope for him. He's a real sucker, but he's a real decent fellow. Leonard has nothing, and so he is ready to throw away his life and throw it away again. Gray goes back to the smallness of his first film, but with a far greater intensity. Leonard's crises feel momentous. Their resolution is a quiet, mute shock. As in other Gray films, the hero blends into a party, and a family network. This time the sense of family and ritual is more offhand and organic than in the preceding two films.

'Two Lovers' has powerful moments. It's like a good short story and it has a surprise O. Henry ending. The performances are uniformly fine. The texture is thick enough with a sense of people and places to override some implausibility in the events. Phoenix's performance will have detractors who find Phoenix too awkward and say it's just as well he plans to quit acting after this for music. But on the contrary this movie made me see how disarming and unique the actor, once overshadowed by his dazzling brother River, has come to be at 35. It would be sad if he left the screen.