• What’s Good: One of the most original yet at the same time traditional romantic films I’ve ever seen. Two Lovers spoke to me in profound ways. This film is amazing!  
• What’s Not: Those who underestimate James Grey. Many feel the film is too measured and deliberate (read, slow).
• Film Law #27: He whom maketh a film with Elias Koteas maketh the film better.

Much like my number one film from last year (“There Will Be Blood”), ”Two Lovers” exists as its own thing, in its own space and at its own pace. Simply put, I’m going out of my way to hype James Grey’s latest drama. Before seeing it the source of the hype was, in fact, guilt over not selecting the director’s superlative “We Own the Night” on my top ten last year. The instant after seeing it, however, that hype transformed into the full fledged worshiping of what I feel to be a near perfect film. James Grey is one of our most intelligent working directors. He is an unsung (and, to his credit, un-singing) master of symbolism, dramatic subtlety, sound design and interpersonal character studies starring Joaquin Phoenix. Seriously, after “The Yards,” “We Own the Night” and now “Two Lovers” the pair are three for three and if this is to be the last role ever put on film by future rap star Phoenix (hehe, yeah right) then he has ended on the most appropriate note possible: tortured thoughtfulness.

As we speak the French are taking credit for discovering this most quiet of auteurs (Grey’s last two films have been celebrated at Cannes and placed on, ohhh, about 200x more top tens than in the U.S.); it’s a shame local film lovers can’t get around to embracing this filmmaker for what he is, an American treasure. I guess we’re too busy calling Diablo Cody a genus. Anyhow, “Two Lovers” is about exactly what the title describes but so much more. The modest offering of the title evokes the beautifully simple yet infinitely complex Woody Allen and John Cassavetes classics and it’s no small compliment to state that the entire film resonates in that tradition in terms of filmmaking and storytelling.

Both dramatically and with a touch of humor, the film follows an awkward man (Phoenix) who can’t follow himself let alone decide between two new women that have entered his barley functioning life; Vanessa Shaw is the “right” girl for him while Gwyneth Paltrow is the girl who tears out his heart and has him begging for more. Who will he choose! I know, I know, we’ve all seen the same set-up before but never have we seen the same results because, for one, the film refuses to submit to narrative expectations or easy characterizations. Leonard lives at home but he’s not a looser. His mother (Isabella Rossellini) eavesdrops but is not a movie mom nag. The girl of his dreams is in love with the “wrong” guy (Elias Koteas) but he’s not an advisory or a monster. Leonard is awkward (every word seems weighted and every step unsure) and while that can be funny he’s not a joke. Leonard is sad and suicidal but not tormented (though Pheonix seems to be). And most importantly Leonard can be a fool for love but he’s not a fool.

All such plot ingredients simmer and eventually lead into one of the most meaningful and intriguing end points I’ve seen in years. Without giving much away I will say that Leonard cries in the last shot, telling the woman he “chooses” (and audience–he makes eye contact with the screen!) they are tears of “joy.” We’ll never know if he is indeed happy or sad and that is, in its own small way, haunting. Enduringly so as I feel (and going out on a limb by feeling that…) this a love story that enters the pantheon of greats. In fact, it came as no surprise to me that it’s loosely adapted or “inspired” if you will from a Dostoyevsky story. Whatever the case may be I feel a groundswell of admiration and hope for James Grey who, for the first time, has reached out beyond the New Jersey crime milieu to explore a fully realized romantic (or anti-romantic if you will) storyline that does not include a single mobster. So: yay.

I’m simply floored by the nature of this film. As poor Leonard seeks happiness and declares his love for the wrong girl this is is modern love story that has a classic swing to it but counter to aspects of both traditions, it is wholly original and impossible to classify as anything beyond “a James Grey film.” For starters the sound design helps brings the film to life by enhancing city sounds like the rushing of cars and even intimate sounds like Leonard’s bubbling fish tank. I feel compelled to mention that James Grey is once again working with sound designer Douglas Murray and it’s really a genus move to utilize top shelf talent capable of epic sounds in movies like “Cloverfield” and “Beowulf” to work their movie magic on a smaller and more personal scale (how come nobody notices this???). But that’s just sound. Everything in this movie feels like it should be. Ducking behind corners to capture awkward people performing impulsive acts, the film is observed more than it is directed and, thus, is not for everyone. Sadly, it also seems like it’s not for anyone. Critics, as usual, don’t quite know what to do or say about Grey. They call his work cliché and they call it boring. They are wrong. 

Grade: A