For the first time in his short directing career, James Gray moves away from crime and asks a simple but highly pertinent question; should you chase the one you love or be with the one who loves you? There is no histrionics or emotional trickery on offer here, this is a smooth, intimate character study that burns with a downbeat intensity.
The movie follows troubled Leonard Kraditor {Joaquin Phoenix terrific and heartfelt}, who after a failed suicide attempt {his fiancée left him you see} finds his parents {Isabella Rosselini and Moni Moshonov} setting him up with Sandra Cohen {Vanessa Shaw} the cute daughter of potential business partners. Things look promising until Leonard encounters Michelle Rausch {Gwyneth Paltrow in a highly effective turn}, who is baggage central yet exciting and sexy. Gray then pulls the threads of this threesome together and lets things play themselves out without manipulating the audience.
Raising issues of infatuations, last chances and maybe even desperation's, Gray's picture is a very different love story-come-drama. Atmospherically it's tone perfect, a moody sense of sadness hangs heavy courtesy of Joaquín Baca-Asay's cinematography, particularly with the Brighton Beach segments. And Gray even manages to add a dash of suspense as we enter the crucial last quarter of the piece. You may not like the characters here, but that may well be the point? Perhaps ask yourself if Leonard is meant to be sympathetic anywaY? Regardless, and the film is sure to throw up a level of division, Two Lovers at least deserves to be given the chance to show you what it has to offer. So try it, maybe once, maybe twice, but do give it a go, because it's unlikely to leave your thoughts some time afterwards. 7/10
