The wife and I just took in Two Lovers, a film written and directed by James Gray and starring Joaquin Phoenix in what could prove to be his final role as an actor.
Okay, I'm not falling for Phoenix's publicity stunt--that he's given up his acting career--one bit.
The film is very good at being both sad and strangely happy. I won't give away the ending or spoil the plot in any way, but it left me happily depressed. Or, sadly happy. It's an interesting film thematically, at times a romantic comedy but more an exploration of what love really is. The film manages to strip away any sense of sentimentality and presents love in its crudest, ugliest, messiest forms.
I'm really starting to dig James Gray as a director. He impressed me with We Own The Night, a film I had dismissed unfairly when it hit the theaters. Two Lovers has a lot of style to it, but in an unobtrusive sort of way. The effect, while understated, is still felt.
So will this be Phoenix's swan song? Or will he rise from the ashes like a...oh god I can't even write it.
3 months ago
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