Spring Break
'Two Lovers' is an intriguing affair
by Sean Fabery
Staff Writer
Arts | 3/3/09
Posted online at 6:52 PM EST on 3/2/09
/ Last updated at 3:53 AM EST on 3/2/09
Upon entering the apartment at the heart of director James Gray's Two Lovers, one visitor notes its "nostalgic" quality. The film itself, if not quite nostalgic, is reminiscent of a more intimate, personal style of filmmaking that we seem to be seeing less and less of as many filmmakers begin to favor more explosive fare.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as Leonard Kraditor, a bipolar 30-something man living with his parents in the aftermath of a broken engagement. We are first introduced to him via a botched suicide attempt, halfheartedly executed on a bridge near his Brighton Beach, N.Y., home. One quickly gets the sense that it isn't his first attempt. Leonard seems emotionally hollow, lacking drive and ambition in all aspects of his life. Holding vague pretensions of becoming a photographer, he works in his parent's dry-cleaning business in the meantime.
Two women enter Leonard's life-Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of his father's business associate, and Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), his new neighbor. Leonard awkwardly bumbles through his initial encounters with Sandra, perceiving her as something safe and comfortable, essentially an extension of his current existence with his parents. Michelle, on the other hand, is Sandra's polar opposite-wild, reckless and, like Leonard, terribly self-destructive. Unfortunately for Leonard, Michelle is involved with a married man and views him as a brother. Leonard turns to Sandra, but he's not completely satisfied. He still remains at Michelle's beck and call, hoping for something more while entertaining a romance with Sandra. He's torn between total destruction and potentially soul-crushing comfort, between the woman who will hurt him and the woman he might hurt.
Just as there are two lovers, two Leonards vie for supremacy, one subdued and the other exuberant. The latter comes out when he works at his family's shop and through his benign courtship of Michelle, expressing itself via dance and an intense eagerness to photograph her. The former appears around his family and around Sandra, morose and mumbling. Only when Michelle becomes unattainable does Leonard really commit himself emotionally to Sandra, offering his more joyful side, but even this concession comes into question later.
Joaquin Phoenix stars as Leonard Kraditor, a bipolar 30-something man living with his parents in the aftermath of a broken engagement. We are first introduced to him via a botched suicide attempt, halfheartedly executed on a bridge near his Brighton Beach, N.Y., home. One quickly gets the sense that it isn't his first attempt. Leonard seems emotionally hollow, lacking drive and ambition in all aspects of his life. Holding vague pretensions of becoming a photographer, he works in his parent's dry-cleaning business in the meantime.
Two women enter Leonard's life-Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of his father's business associate, and Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), his new neighbor. Leonard awkwardly bumbles through his initial encounters with Sandra, perceiving her as something safe and comfortable, essentially an extension of his current existence with his parents. Michelle, on the other hand, is Sandra's polar opposite-wild, reckless and, like Leonard, terribly self-destructive. Unfortunately for Leonard, Michelle is involved with a married man and views him as a brother. Leonard turns to Sandra, but he's not completely satisfied. He still remains at Michelle's beck and call, hoping for something more while entertaining a romance with Sandra. He's torn between total destruction and potentially soul-crushing comfort, between the woman who will hurt him and the woman he might hurt.
Just as there are two lovers, two Leonards vie for supremacy, one subdued and the other exuberant. The latter comes out when he works at his family's shop and through his benign courtship of Michelle, expressing itself via dance and an intense eagerness to photograph her. The former appears around his family and around Sandra, morose and mumbling. Only when Michelle becomes unattainable does Leonard really commit himself emotionally to Sandra, offering his more joyful side, but even this concession comes into question later.
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