Two Lovers (2008)

Director:

James Gray

Writers (WGA):

James Gray (written by) &
Ric Menello (written by)

Release Date:

19 November 2008 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Sometimes we leave everything to find ourselves.

Plot:

A Brooklyn-set romantic drama about a bachelor (Phoenix) torn between the family friend his parents wish he would marry and his beautiful but volatile new neighbor.

Plot Keywords:

Married Man | Jewish | Love | Hiding | Jewish Mother

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix	...	Leonard Kraditor
Gwyneth Paltrow	...	Michelle Rausch
Vinessa Shaw	...	Sandra Cohen
Moni Moshonov	...	Reuben Kraditor
Isabella Rossellini	...	Ruth Kraditor
John Ortiz	...	Jose Cordero
Bob Ari	...	Michael Cohen
Julie Budd	...	Carol Cohen
Elias Koteas	...	Ronald Blatt
Shiran Nicholson	...	DJ Juice
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Cale	...	Jeweler
Kathryn Gerhardt	...	New Year's Eve Party Guest #3
Nick Gillie	...	Livery Driver
Carmen M. Herlihy
Samantha Ivers	...	Stephanie
Anne Joyce	...	Leonard's ex-fiance
Mari Koda	...	Popping Dancer
RJ Konner	...	Upscale Opera Guest
Evan Lewis	...	Uncle
Marion McCorry	...	Nurse
David Ross	...	Waiter
Jeanine Serralles	...	Dayna
Jose Edwin Soto
Uzimann	...	Cab Driver
Elliot Villar	...	Bystander
Mark Vincent	...	Ronald's driver
Craig Walker

MPAA:

Rated R for language, some sexuality and brief drug use.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R | France:U | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:12 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 | New Zealand:M | Mexico:B15 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB)

Filming Locations:

Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Trivia:

The movie is set around Brighton Beach and features Gwyneth Paltrow whose mother Blythe Danner starred in the movie Brighton Beach Memoirs (1986).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Leonard leaves the New Years Eve party to meet up with Michelle, he picks up his coat on the rack near the door and you can clearly see that he drops it to the floor rather than holding it (perhaps the actor was expecting the director to cut at this point). In the next shot, he is outside the apartment door holding the coat in his hands.

Movie Connections:

References The Sound of Music (1965)

Soundtrack:

O Lola ch'ai di latti di cammisa

A small, but very affective watch.

James Gray's latest film tells the tale of Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who had a problematic break-up with his fiancée two years ago, and has since been heading down a suicidal road. 4-months into living back home with his anxious parents (played by Moni Moshonov and Isabella Rossellini) and helping out at his father's dry-cleaning business, Leonard is introduced to Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), a sweet daughter of his father's business friend. Wearing her heart on her sleeve, Leonard has moments of true spark with her, and you can see his eyes changing away from the torment inside. A woman is surely the right thing for Leonard, as he carves through the days with a worn-out heart and a mind in loneliness. Soon after meeting Sandra, he befriends Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a beautiful but messed-up girl that's dating her married boss (played by Elias Koteas). With her, Leonard sees an escape, and a burning romance. Leonard's mind is now set on two women, and he finds himself torn between them.

James Gray hadn't really impressed me with his earlier films, for me they all lacked out on the intensity and became standard crime-thrillers. With his latest melodramatic romance, he really surprised me; he does a caring job directing the three performers, and he tells a strange and tender story. The music of the film is Jewish guitar-instrumentals that are carefully intertwined, but most of the film has got a blanket of quiet bleakness, and it's covering every little corner.

The performances of Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw are great, and although the two never share screen-space, director Gray naturally and carefully shifts between the two lives Leonard is living, and so the two of them add lovely pieces to the story. But it's in-between the double relationship the film and its protagonist is living, the film has to connect, and it couldn't have been done better than by Joaquin Phoenix. Leonard is a suicidal depressive that enters human-bounding and the give & receive of it, and this is a very difficult character to portray - but just look at Phoenix, he is phenomenal; the incredible naturalism of it shows Phoenix in the performance of his career.

The melancholy of the film doesn't make it for the dominant audience, but I've never even cared a bit for that, and it's a delight that romance on screen can be thrown upon like this. 'Two Lovers' is a small film with a heart that's full of rare atmosphere, the form of it is tearing and in center, a superb Joaquin Phoenix.