Two Lovers

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Phoenix plays the suicidal Leonard, a budding photographer who lives with his parents (Rossellini and Moni Moshonov) in a cramped apartment. Leonard falls for his neighbour Michelle (Paltrow), an unhinged beauty in the throes of an affair with a married man (Elias Koteas); but there's another woman in his life: his father's dry cleaning business is merging with another and his future partner's daughter Sandra (Shaw) is giving him the glad eye. It's complicated, this love craic. Gray, who cast Phoenix in The Yards and We Own The Night, wrote Leonard hoping that empathy will get the audience onside and it works: We've all lied, done something stupid, treated someone badly, allowed someone to treat us badly, etc. There's a part of Leonard in all of us, but is empathy enough to carry a film? And would there be as much attention on Phoenix's performance if he didn't announce his 'retirement'? Phoenix plays it down and shows signs that he would have gotten better and better. He's not fantastic here, he's just perfect for this particular role and he's not on his own: Paltrow, although still playing the ultimate whinge, is whinging better as Michelle than the other whingers she's played. This won't be Phoenix's last film. I promise you that.