DVD Review: Two Lovers: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, James Gray: Movies & TV

Jul01

DVD Review: Two Lovers: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, James Gray: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 1 July, 09:01 AM

Amazon.com
Russian-American director James Gray (The Yards) has never made any secret of his affection for the Italian crime drama. That operatic influence permeated his first three features, but Two Lovers takes more cues from intimate French films and angst-ridden Russian fiction (specifically Dostoevsky’s short story “White Nights”). Aspiring photographer Leonard (Gray regular Joaquin Phoenix) returns to Brooklyn after a failed relationship only to find himself torn between two paramours of opposing personalities. Sandra (Vinessa Shaw, 3:10 to Yuma) represents the safe choice, while Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow, recalling her streetwise character in P.T. Anderson’s Hard Eight) presents more of a challenge–she’s a party girl in love with a married man–but Michelle excites him in ways the thoughtful and attentive Sandra, a drug-company rep, does not. Gray leaves it up to viewers to determine whether Leonard should factor religion into his decision; his supportive parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Monoshov) would love to see him pair up with the Jewish Sandra, but mostly they want their only son to be happy. If he joins his father–and Sandra’s–in the dry-cleaning game, that would be a happy bonus (the men are working on a merger). Though Leonard’s bipolar quirks threaten to derail the proceedings–it’s hard to believe two beautiful women would gravitate towards such a socially awkward fellow–Two Lovers marks an improvement over Gray’s previous movie, We Own the Night, and a welcome return to the picturesque Brighton Beach neighborhood of Little Odessa, his auspicious debut. –Kathleen C. Fennessy

Product Description
Set in the insular world of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, TWO LOVERS is a classic romantic drama, with Joaquin Phoenix giving a raw and vulnerable performance as Leonard, a charismatic but troubled young man who moves back into his childhood home following a recent heartbreak. While recovering under the watchful eye of his parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Monoshov), Leonard meets two women in quick succession: Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a mysterious and beautiful neighbor who is exotic and out-of-place in Leonard’s staid world, and Sandra, the lovely and caring daughter of a businessman who is buying out his family’s dry-cleaning business.
Leonard becomes deeply infatuated by Michelle, who seems poised to fall for him, but is having a self-destructive affair with a married man. At the same time, mounting pressure from his family pushes him towards committing to Sandra. Leonard is forced to make an impossible decision between the impetuousness of desire and the comfort of love or risk falling back into the darkness that nearly killed him.

One of the Best for 2009,

By Read Better Books -

This review is from: Two Lovers [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Perhaps the best movie of 2009, so far.

Loosely-based on Dostoevsky’s White Nights, it is a brooding story of unrequited love, and the choices we make.

Great direction by James Gray, as well as great cinematography and use of sound. Very good cast gives very good performances (I particularly liked Isabella Rossellini’s understated appearances.)

Highly recommended.

There is Much to Love About Two Lovers.,

By G. Merritt (Boulder, CO) -
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I saw this gem of a film at the 2008 Denver Film Festival. It was a hit in France long before it was released here in the States. Directed by James Gray (The Yards; We Own the Night), and based loosely on Dostoevsky’s novella, “White Nights”, Two Lovers tells the emotionally powerful story of Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix) who, while engaged to a nice Jewish girl, Sandra Cohen (Vinessa Shaw), falls for his Brooklyn neighbor, Michelle Rausch (Gwyneth Paltrow). Leonard lives with his Jewish parents (played by Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov), who are concerned about their son’s depression and suicidal tendencies. Michelle is involved with a married partner in her law firm. Both are deeply vulnerable characters, plagued with very real emotional issues.

James Gray knows his cinema. He has acknowledged an influence from 1950s Italian films in Two Lovers. “Certainly,” he admits, “the ending on the beach is totally ripped off from La Strada . . . and I stole quite liberally from the Visconti movie Le Notti Bianche (White Nights).” With Two Lovers, Gray has once again delivered a rare Hollywood film that continues to earn him praise in France, while American audiences stand in line for easily-forgettable Hollywood romances like He’s Just Not That Into You. Two Lovers is poignant, emotionally mature, intelligent, well-made, well-crafted, and well-acted. Gray is known for his talent in bringing authenticity and deeply-affecting emotionality to his work. In this film, Gray raises the question, should Leonard pursue the one he loves or the one who loves him. While Phoenix and Paltrow carry the film with their radiant performances as two frustrated lovers, this is ultimately Phoenix’s film. His collaboration with Gray and Paltrow results in the most poignant performance of his career. Highly recommended.

G. Merritt

Real People, Not Cartoons,

By Jazzman (Germany) -

This is a film about normal, troubled people facing real problems and choices. For those whose minds have been rotted by 2D stories, characters and special effects, please do yourselves a favor and stay away. But if you appreciate great acting, literate themes and characterizations, and aren’t afraid of a little ambiguity and doubt, then buy one of the best films of the decade when it is released on DVD. Kudos to writers James Gray and Ric Menello!
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