Joaquin Phoenix road-tests the 'thug' look right before he grew all that facial hair

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Vinessa Shaw, Gwyneth Paltrow, Isabella Rossellini
Director: James Gray
Screenwriters: James Gray, Rick Menello

When he’s not on the hip hop circuit, churning out whack jams, Joaquin Phoenix acting career has been pretty spectacular, or ‘dope’, if you will.

In his latest venture, rumoured as his last as an actor, Phoenix plays the part of Leonard Kraditor, a man on the brink of suicide after failing to recover from his last failed relationship two years previous.

After several attempts to take his own life, fortune befalls Leonard as two women enter his life within a day of one another; Sandra (Shaw), the daughter of his father’s business associate and mysterious neighbour and troubled neighbour Michelle (Paltrow). Caught between lust and love, Leonard strikes up a friendship with Michelle, during which time he secretly lusts after her unbeknownst to his lover and girlfriend, Sandra.

As a middle-aged man living at his parent’s traditional Jewish home, Leonard revisits the past and almost relives his youth; following his parents’ rules, working within the family business and obeying their curfew. Like a teenager, he sneaks out to meet his women friends, knowing that they wouldn’t approve of his nocturnal activities. But it is such adventures that land Leonard at the feet of quirky blonde neighbour, Michelle, the damsel in distress.

As a self-confessed screw up, Michelle offers Leonard an alternative to a life that is planned out. She helps him forget his troubles by allowing him to immerse his life in hers and in doing so assists Leonard in forgetting his past inadvertently helping him beyond the trauma of his break up and allowing him to forge a new life. Michelle provides the glitzy glamour that the plain-looking Sandra cannot offer. And, like most lovers, the heart often desires something other than sense, so the life of security that Sandra embodies does not seem as worthwhile as it should.

Stylistically, this film is timeless. If it wasn’t for the prolific use of modern mobile phones, the discreet aide of many a two-timer, you could easily mistake the sets as dating from the seventies. The rich mixture of pastel colours flood sets that have no real chronology. The editing is put together at a slow, churning pace, treating the audience to a piece of cinema reminiscent of a forgotten time. At some points of this film you really expect a Jewish Don Corleone to make an entrance.

This film plays out at a pace perfectly suited to its style, engaging the audience with an as-expected strong performance from both Paltrow and Phoenix, both of whom have a history of choosing their roles carefully. The direction is strong and the scenes have been carefully chosen to depict a timeless age; and what better struggle can a narrator choose than a man’s conflicting mental battle with sex and love.

Two Lovers is out now on DVD and Blu-ray via Lionsgate Home Entertainment

By Chris Horsnell