On a Dramatic Note: Two Lovers

Small, intimate drama with a performance by Joaquin Phoenix that is so fresh and intriguing I found myself hoping, early on, that this isn’t really his last film. Phoenix plays Leonard, a youngish man with a broken heart who survives a suicide attempt, and then moves in with his parents to recuperate. They introduce him to Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of a business partner, a young woman who sees Leonard’s pain and wants to save him from it. Leonard, meanwhile, is falling for his neighbor, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) an unpredictable, childlike woman who is only looking for a friend.

While this is the story of a love triangle it is not the kind Hollywood usually spins; this isn’t Sabrina, for example, where the heroine finally learns that glitz and glamour are not substitutes for love. Two Lovers is more like a coming of age story for people in their thirties. These characters are confronted by their lives and they have to decide what to do about it. It’s refreshing, and honest, but also kind of grim and claustrophobic; it’s hard to see any real happiness on the characters’ collective horizons. Nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes, which is a pretty big deal, and it has been generally well reviewed. Performances are terrific, including Isabella Rossellini popping up as Leonard’s mother. (Have you seen Blue Velvet, people? Who ever thought Dorothy Vallens could morph into a Jewish mother from the Bronx?) Currently in limited release around the country, mostly big cities.