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Mood:
Contemplative Touching Bleak
Plot:
Love Triangle Love and Romance Mind and Soul Young Lovers Psychological Fall in Love Parents and Children Life Turned Upside Down more...
Genres:
Drama Romance Melodrama
Time/Period:
Contemporary 21st Century
Place:
New York USA
Audience:
Date Night
Attitudes:
Serious Realistic
Flag:
Profanity

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Overview

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Two Lovers, 2008

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow

Directed by: James Gray

Written by: James Gray

Language: English

Country: USA

Runtime: 110 min

MPAA Rating: R

Rating:7.1

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Profile of Two Lovers

The mood of Two Lovers is contemplative, touching, and bleak. The plot centers around a love triangle, love and romance, and themes of mind and soul. It is a drama and romance movie. Stylistically, Two Lovers is a melodrama. In approach, it is serious and realistic. The setting is New York. Two Lovers happens in contemporary times. It is especially suggested for a date night. Note that it includes profanity.

Summary of Two Lovers

James Gray, director of such hard-edged crime dramas as LITTLE ODESSA and THE YARDS, reveals the dark and unsettling complexities of love in his somber romantic drama, TWO LOVERS. Set against the gray winter backdrop of Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, the story centers on Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix), a depressed and sometimes suicidal bachelor trying to pick up the pieces of his life after a bad breakup. Living with his parents and helping out at the family dry-cleaning business, Leonard finds himself in an existence that, save for his dabbling in black-and-white photography, is ordinary and stifling. His parents, mother Ruth (Isabella Rossellini) and father Reuben (Moni Moshonov), hope that a merger with a lucrative business--run by a friend of Reuben’s with a pretty daughter, Sandra (Vinessa Shaw)--will spark a budding romance in Leonard. But their plan hits a snag when Leonard befriends Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), an alluring but emotionally needy blonde who struggles with her own desire for validation from a married man with whom she is having an affair. Phoenix is brilliant as the brooding and complex Leonard, an anti-hero caught between filial obligation and a longing for escape, who sees in Michelle a partner for his troubled soul. While TWO LOVERS can come off at times a bit unadorned and overly low-key, its great strength lies in its power to simply and honestly convey the muddled and awkward realities of love--a feat that could not be matched by 1000 generic Hollywood rom-coms.

Details

Language:	English
Country:	USA
Release date:	16 October 2008
Runtime:	110 min

Cast and Crew See all

Joaquin Phoenix

as Leonard Kraditor

Gwyneth Paltrow

as Michelle Rausch

Photos See all

Two Lovers (2008)

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Two Lovers: Trailer

Users Reviews See all

Complex, nuanced, and well-acted story of a vulnerable and somewhat disturbed young man looking for love and simultaneously finding two very different women who care about him. It's just detailed enough and untidy enough to give it a slice-of-life... Read and rate it

27.October.2010
|
by: Stephen
Stephen rated this movie8/10Great

30.August.2010
|
by: Dain Binder
Dain Binder rated this movie0/10

Two Lovers (2008) is the last Joaquin Phoenix movie unless he decides to return from his music career. With a rather simple and predictable plot you may wonder what the appeal is. The movie revolves around Leonard Kraditor (Phoenix), a suicidal case of a depressed man that was left by his fiancÃ©e and has now moved back in with his parents. He is working at the family dry cleaners and is the bane of his own existence. Enter the daughter of a soon to be business partner of his fathers that puts a little smile on his face. Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) is a simple lovely women and falls for Leonard and they start dating with the approval of both families. Michelle (Paltrow), who lives in the same building, makes a grand entrance with much drama and problems. Leonard becomes infatuated with the sexy troubled party girl and sneaks around to spend time with her. The storyline and events are almost inconsequential to this film - it is a true character study (exploration). When you meet someone interesting at a coffee shop does where you are, what youre eating or wearing matter? Of course not, it is the person, the conversation, their feelings and who they are that you are interested in. That is what this is; we explore and learn about the characters in great depth. I felt Michelle could have been better cast. To me Paltrow is the sophisticated type and just didnt fit into the character perfectly - she still did a great job though. Shaw played her part to perfection. Joaquin didnt let down as usual. He is such a gifted actor and I hope to see him back on the screen soon. Some say this was his defining performance, maybe so for the genre, but I will always remember him as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line and Max California in 8MM. Watch it for what it is and you will enjoy!

30.August.2010
|
by: Dain Binder

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