TWO LOVERS
Directed by: James
Gray
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow
Review written by Deke Richards
PLOT: Who cares!!!!
Just kidding (or am I...). TWO LOVERS is a romantic drama set in
Brooklyn
about a bachelor (Joaquin Phoenix) torn between a family friend his parents
want him to marry and the beautiful but fragile new neighbor that he's falling
for...
CRITIQUE: Being an
admirer of James Gray, the director who helmed the excellent gangster flick THE
YARDS, I was more than pumped to catch his latest film TWO LOVERS. Personally,
my main point of interest when it came to this flick was watching "the
man" Joaquin Phoenix, (always a plus for me - solid actor) make his life a
living hell by trying to keep two relationships with two women going at the same
time .One gal he entertains, for the sake of keeping his family happy, and the
other he pursues, cause he truly is in love with her. Ambitious,
ambitious...poor guy...
Actually, there was one
unintentionally amusing scene that perfectly illustrated the complexity of the
central situation and this film's overall game: After
Phoenix's character
returns from a date with his crush (Gwyneth Paltrow), his mother, (the still
sexy Isabella Rossellini) asks him why he stiffed his girlfriend (Vinessa Shaw)
for lunch? His excuse: Because of a terrorist alert in the subway, they halted
service (got to remember that one)! The film had countless sequences of this
type that made me laugh, had me squirming in my seat (yes I was rooting for
Phoenix to not get pinched) and sometimes had me say to myself: "Phoenix
, what the hell are you doing? Call it quits while you're ahead!"
I also took fancy to the film's
knack at addressing today's technology and its place within the dangerous game
that is "two timing." Cell phones, message boards, booking plane
tickets online, those devices were all used in this film and more often than
none, slyly wound up launching a pivotal plot point as to the story. That was a
very "now" move, one that we call relate to. Yes gents, cheating is
not as easy and painless as it used to be due to that damn internet. It's gotten
much trickier. This film echoed that brilliantly.
And you can't go wrong with the always much welcomed inclusion (brief but his
scene was so memorable I had to mention it ) of the great Elias Koteas (THE PROPHECY fame). I won't tell you what his role was all about but let's just say
that as soon as he entered the frame I knew the stakes had just gotten
higher.
In short TWO LOVERS chronicled
the mishaps of a good guy doing the wrong things for the right and at the same
time the wrong reasons. Make sense? Yes and no, such is life, such is this
movie. It's that ambiguity (lets face it, I was rooting for a cheater) tagged
with the fact that all of the characters were likable that made me warm up to
this one. The film didn't really take sides, its story was layered and filled
with grey areas (again, much like in real) and it let us pick the sides we
wanted to as to its characters. Think riding an emotional see-saw and you'll get
the gist of what this film was all about.
Although the film was well written, stunning to look at (cinematography was
stand-out), effortlessly paced and with a top notch cast to boot, I can see how
its not for everybody. Unless sitting through a film about a post suicidal man
screwing up other people’s lives and his own in the name of love, lack of
spine and selfishness is your cup Nescafe that is! It sounds like sweet times
at the movies to you too? Be my guest and see it!
RATING: 7/10
