Joaquin Phoenix is nothing short of phenomenal in TWO LOVERS, an underrated gem from the 2000s. Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures.2008. What do you think about when that year comes to mind? 15 YEARS AGO. (WOW.) Personally, I think about my senior year of high school and Barack Obama winning the presidency. I also think about the time Joaquin Phoenix, one of the greatest actors alive, announced before the release of his movie, TWO LOVERS, that he would be retiring. And then he went on David Letterman with a huge beard, sunglasses, and just…a VERY weird personality. It is quite possibly the most awkward television interview of all time. Luckily, it turns out the whole thing was a hoax. Phoenix was just playing around and pretending to retire for his next movie, I’m Still Here (2010), an equally bizarre mockumentary. TWO LOVERS, one of the most haunting dramas of the 2000s, will unfortunately be stained with the “Joaquin Phoenix retires hoax” in its trivia. It’s a huge shame because this movie couldn’t be more perfect.
Co-written and directed by James Gray (Armageddon Time) and loosely based on a short story by Fyodor Dostoevsky, TWO LOVERS shouldn’t be remembered as Phoenix’s “fake last movie” or whatever. Released by Magnolia Pictures at the end of 2008, the movie continues to get mentioned every now and again by film critics and movie aficionados as one of the more underrated films of Phoenix’s career. And indeed, it most certainly is. This is one of the most haunting, gorgeously made romantic dramas ever made. Well, I guess it’s OK to call this a “romantic” drama, but it’s more of a character study, a story about a man whose unfortunate destiny is to be alone. It’s amazing how a simplistic premise can somehow be so impactful to a viewer. TWO LOVERS is essentially a love triangle between two different women and a lonely man, and it was mostly marketed this way when it was released. I still remember seeing the trailer for the movie at the Ritz Five here in Philly all those years ago, a mesmerizing minute or two of Luciano Pavarotti’s “Una furtiva lagrima” blaring while the montage plays.
Did I mention that it’s also a very Jewish movie? Gray, who is Jewish himself, portrayed a Jewish family from New York City in last year’s powerful coming-of-age drama, Armageddon Time. In TWO LOVERS, there is also a family living in a heavily Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, but the child is a grown man. His name is Leonard Kraditor (Phoenix), and when we first see him, he jumps into a bay in public. Through mesmerizing imagery from cinematographer Joaquin Baca-Asay, we see glimpses of a woman appearing as Leonard floats to the bottom of the water. Suddenly, he moves his arms and dives back to the top. Pedestrians help him out of the water, and Leonard insists that he fell. When he returns home to his parents’ apartment wet and cold, his mother (Isabella Rossellini, fantastic), knows the truth.
“I think he tried again,” she tells her husband (Moni Moshonov).
Leonard’s parents are helpless in this situation. Their son is a grown man, but he’s also suicidal. They can’t just get him the help that he needs as if he were still a child. We soon find out that the reason Leonard is so depressed is because his fiancée (the woman in his vision) recently left him, leaving him completely distraught.
This lifestyle, unfortunately, is nothing out of the ordinary for the Kraditors. That evening, Leonard’s parents invite their friends over for dinner, and Leonard comes out of his room as if nothing happened. It’s at this occasion that he meets Sandra (Vinessa Shaw, Hocus Pocus), an intelligent, sweet woman whose younger brother is about to be become a bar mitzvah. Leonard, a photographer, is asked to shoot the occasion. He and Sandra become pretty close. Is there an instant attraction? It’s up to us, the viewers, to decide that.
The thing with Leonard is that he’s so good at hiding his depression. When he speaks with Sandra, he is a little shy, but he can crack a joke or two. (Credit to Phoenix’s incredible acting.) Sandra confesses that she has wanted to meet him for a while, so there is definitely an attraction on her end. For Leonard, Sandra feels “safe” for him. He isn’t head-over-heels in love, but he can be himself around her…for the most part.
Leonard’s life gets a big surprise very soon when he meets Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), his new neighbor. From the start, you can tell she has some baggage. (When he first meets her in the hallway, her father is heard screaming at her from her room.) There is an almost childlike way in how she speaks.
“You guys have a lot of books,” she tells Leonard while walking around his apartment. “What are you, like, one of those reader guys? You like read all the time and are really smart?”
Leonard, as we see, is pretty smitten, but Michelle has him in the friend zone from the get-go. She invites him out to dance with her and her friends, popping down pills with liquor in the car. She later breaks down that night upon learning that the married man she’s been seeing has just told her he’s going to stay with his wife. Leonard comforts her, but she talks to him like a friend, not someone she’s attracted to. Leonard sees sparks. Michelle does not.
As Michelle’s life spirals, Leonard’s morals are questioned as he encourages a relationship with Sandra. His new girlfriend is a good match for him but in a strange way.
“I just want to take care of you,” Sandra tells him.
This may sound strange for a relationship, but perhaps it is what Leonard needs. Perhaps, as I mentioned earlier, this man is just meant to be alone. There are subtle hints throughout the film that show this. Take, for example, the incident outside the nightclub. Michelle is allowed back inside to grab her purse she left behind. When Leonard follows her, he is refused entry. Later on, when Michelle invites him to meet her married boyfriend (Elias Koteas), he shows up on time and is left to sit there at the table for the other guests, alone and awkward, desperate for attention.
In TWO LOVERS, we experience actions and reactions that are questionable yet believable. With this premise, Gray could have easily made a soapy melodrama, but he avoids that and dives deep into the psyche of a fascinating character, a man lost in a huge universe. The movie is not just outstanding for its lush cinematography but Phoenix’s performance. There is never a moment in this movie where you feel like you’re watching a character. Leonard is like a real human, someone you’d meet at an event and couldn’t quite figure out. His idiosyncrasies are an astounding addition by Phoenix. Watch the way he comes out of his shell and breakdances out of nowhere with Michelle or the moment when he lights a match and puts his finger over it slowly. Who is Leonard? What is he thinking?
For the very last PJFM blog post of 2023, I recommend TWO LOVERS, a forgotten indie from the archives of an amazing decade of films.
TWO LOVERS is now available to stream on Tubi, Peacock, and more.