* ¨? out of ****
"Two Lovers" is a significant film because it features what Joaquin Phoenix is calling his "last film role" as he goes off to pursue a career in rap music. This fact is about all that is significant about "Two Lovers," though.
A young bipolar man (Phoenix) living with his parents in New York City after his fiancee leaves him, meets his "lovers," the nice Jewish woman his parents want him to marry (Vinessa Shaw) and the mysterious "shiksa" who lives in the same building (Gwyneth Paltrow). This might sound intriguing, but it, in actuality, comes off rather tepidly.
It is a drama, but not quite the romance the title implies and certainly not passionate (in many respects). The dialogue is flat, banal and unconvincing and spoken by actors who, though well known, are overwhelmingly unimpressive. However, the appearance of Isabella Rossellini is always quite a treat (she even shares the soft features of her mother, Ingrid Bergman, these days) and here she plays the mother of Leonard, but it hardly makes up for the oil-and-vinegar onscreen chemistry of Leonard, Michelle (Paltrow) and Sandra (Shaw). Though somewhat of a method actor, Phoenix's approach to Leonard is generally awkward and uninteresting. (What a dud for "going out with a bang.")
Shaw is perhaps the best actor in the film playing the most sympathetic character. She accurately personifies simple, normal Sandra with unglamorous charm. Sandra, though not as beautiful and more ordinary in comparison to Michelle, is selfless and pleasant. On the other hand, Paltrow, for whom the role of Michelle was written, according to imdb.com, delivers a performance about which I am indifferent - so indifferent that I really have little to say about it.
The film itself is pretty unforgivable because director James Gray's fourth effort comes off as amateur. Though the subject material may be cliche (woman falls in love with married man who will not leave his family, man has unrequited love for woman), it might have held up had the acting not been so lackluster and the dialogue so trite. Nevertheless, the plot drive is choppy and generally insipid, which becomes apparent by way of the camera. The cinematography at the beginning of the film presents tight framing that leaves some visual information hidden, and this curiously makes interpreting what is going on much more interesting and pertinent. However, this different approach at visual storytelling that makes viewers more active seems quickly abandoned in favor of a ritual one (the camera as an invisible narrator), which is unsatisfying.
Because of the general lifelessness of the film's visuals, story and acting, I, several times, contemplated leaving the theater because walking anywhere would have been more interesting. As a word of warning, if you are searching for the grand love story of "Casablanca," then stay home - romancing any kind of stone would be more fulfilling.
