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TWO LOVERS Send This Review to a Friend
Director James Gray’s “Two Lovers” starts slowly and builds emotionally into an involving story about a restless, troubled man in his early thirties struggling to find his place in the world. It benefits from several strong performances, one by Joaquin Phoenix as the protagonist, two by Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw as the women who are his alternatives and Isabella Rossellini as the man’s mother. Other roles are also handled well, with the overall result of drawing us into a drama that becomes emotionally affecting.
Phoenix plays Leonard Kraditor, who has suffered a romantic disappointment and depression and has attempted suicide. He lives in Brooklyn with his parents, played by Rossellini and Moni Moshonov. His father runs a dry cleaning business and there’s a planned merger that could benefit Leonard by building his future. The sweetener is the daughter of the boss in the planned liaison. Sandra (Shaw) is warm, appealing and sensual and Leonard is attracted to her.
However, he is more attracted to the screwed-up, needy Michelle Rausch, played with the right edginess by Paltrow. Blonde and beautiful, she captivates him. One hitch: she is involved with a married man, portrayed tensely by Elias Koteas. When that relationship appears to be on the rocks, Leonard’s hopes are raised. But to make that choice, he would have to escape precipitously and leave all of the family business plans for him in the lurch, as well as disappointing Sandra.
It is a mark of Phoenix’s fine acting that he makes us feel his pain, his uncertainties and an ever-present danger in view of his unhappy, suicidal past. Perhaps one may predict the ultimate plot turn, but the result is convincing, and the film, co-written by Gray and Richard Menello, commands respect as well as involvement. A Magnolia Pictures release.
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