Two Lovers

Joaquin Phoenix delivers a heart-rending performance in this drama about a troubled man tortured by desire. Leonard (Phoenix) is living with his parents and under his mother's thumb when he catches sight of Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), the blonde who's just moved into the building. She befriends him, but the path to romance has several stumbling blocks, including her married lover (Elias Koteas) and the "nice Jewish girl" (Vinessa Shaw) Leonard's parents are trying to foist upon him. Thankfully, writer/director James Gray doesn't reduce his characters to archetypes: Isabella Rossellini may play a cosseting mama, but she's never overbearing. Paltrow's role is a little too thinly drawn and the film's ending is rather questionable, but Gray's feel for nuance is expertly employed throughout, including a restaurant scene where Leonard tries desperately to be sophisticated.