Screen Scene: “Two Lovers“

In the first moments of the dramatic indie “Two Lovers,” Joaquin Phoenix (in the role of Leonard Kraditor) dives off the boardwalk and into the deep blue sea.

Questions flashed across my mind during these first few minutes: Is this the beginning of the story or the end? Is this the end of Leonard’s life or just the tip of the iceberg? The former in both cases turns out to be true as Kraditor is eventually saved and runs quickly back to his parents’ apartment in quiet Brighton Beach, New York.

It is quickly discovered that Leonard moved back in with his elderly parents four months prior, after slowly recuperating from the heartbreak of having his fiancee run away a number of years earlier. He takes a number of medications every morning, helps out at his family’s dry-cleaning store and is home in time for an uneventful family dinner before going to sleep to prepare for the same routine again the next day.

However, two women quickly find their way into Leonard’s small world and everything starts to spin.

One woman is Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of close family friends. She is young and beautiful but also independent, smart, successful, and best of all, she has a sort-of crush on Leonard. If there was only Sandra, Leonard’s life surely would not be very complicated. But then there is also the Kraditors’ neighbor, Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow).

Michelle is also beautiful but is the exact opposite from Sandra in every way possible. She’s far too dependent on her married boyfriend, who takes her out to fancy restaurants and the opera besides paying for her apartment (since she can’t afford it herself), she uses hard drugs on a semi-regular basis and worst of all, she is almost completely oblivious to Leonard. Like any other man in the real world, he is instantly smitten with Michelle and slow to warm to Sandra.

The real drama starts once his relationships deepen in intensity with each girl as Sandra buys him gifts and refers to him as her boyfriend all the while Michelle brings Leonard along to dance clubs and introduces him to her married boyfriend for a character study.

It’s unfortunate that screenwriters Ric Menello and James Gray (who also serves as the film’s director) can’t seem to paint more multi-dimensional portraits of the two leading ladies, but Shaw is still great in the role given to her and Paltrow does her best to keep Michelle from coming off as completely despicable. The one positive that comes from this lack of attention is the pitch-perfect focus it brings to Phoenix’ character.

Leonard is at times muted, polite, restrained and seemingly living in his own little world. Yet he also has more than his fair share of daring moments, funny moments and touching moments. Phoenix acts every twinkle and twitch as if they were organic to his being.

The love triangle depicted here is something just as easily seen in current bland romantic comedies such as “He’s Just Not That Into You.” However, it’s Leonard’s character development and the acting talents as seen in Phoenix that lift this film from mediocre to meaningful and show the power true drama can hold.

At the end of the film, for one reason or another, Leonard approaches the water again. Will he stay or will he go? Is this how he meets his end? The answers are unpredictable and far from clear, but the questioning, the investment in the physically brutish yet mentally fragile Leonard is what holds the scene, and the film, together.