Two Lovers (Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rossellini) – Two Lovers is actually about three lovers. In reality, this is a deep character study about Leonard and Michelle. Joaquin Phoenix, who always seems like a morose weird dude and is now acting like it in real life, stars as Leonard Kraditor, a troubled man living at home with his Jewish parents, who own a dry cleaners in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn. About all he does for the business is deliver laundry. We’re not sure until the second act of the movie why he is so troubled but we know he takes medication, jumped in the ocean for no apparent reason, lives in a room that still has posters from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and is coddled by his parents. His parents and those of their close friends, the Cohens, want him to meet the Cohen’s attractive daughter, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw of 3:10 to Yuma). The Cohens own a larger dry cleaner and a merger is in the offing. One day, he meets Michelle Rausch, who lives in his building in an apartment that actually overlooks his bedroom. He is immediately smitten. As we find out her story, we realize how troubled she is. She is involved with a married man, who pays for the apartment. She becomes dependent on Leonard, apparently oblivious to his personal issues. He, of course, is infatuated, and is equally oblivious to her personal problems. But Sandra clearly likes Leonard, and the two become lovers. He enjoys her company, too, but does he love her? If so, it’s not in the same way he is attracted to Michelle. While Sandra is seemingly the only normal person in this triangle, you wonder what she sees in Leonard other than the fact that he is tender with her. You sense that she has had few relationships with men.
This is a marvelously acted film, and you’re never sure exactly where it’s going until the very end. These are fine actors trying to salvage a really thin script. It lacks depth and never fleshes out the characters. More “back story” would help. The direction is a bit uneven, too. If Phoenix is really leaving acting to be a rap singer, it is very sad. On the other hand, if he’s just play-acting so he and his friend, Casey Affleck, can produce their anticipated documentary, just stop it! It is wonderful to see Gwyneth again, and while I know she wants to spend a lot of time with daughter, Apple, I hope she makes many more movies. The Two Lovers, in my mind, are his two women-friends, Michelle and Sandra, not Leonard and Michelle. See what you think.