Day 75- Movie 65. Two Lovers (2008)

I am still struggling with what exactly I think about this movie. On one hand, it is a very adult movie, looking at relationships in a mature, realistic light. On the other hand, it features pretty unlikable characters, and never really amounts to much. In the end, this is a decent movie, but certainly not a very good one.

The film centers on a young man (Joaquin Phoenix) who finds himself torn between a kind, simple girl (Vinessa Shaw), and the beautiful, troubled next door neighbor (Gwyneth Paltrow). This is a film about complicated relationships- between two lovers, but also between Phoenix and his parents. So often, movies create artificial, Hollywood relationships, instead of "real" ones. This film shows relationships in a more realistic light- messy, complex, occasionally awful, and unexpected. I appreciated that adult, mature look at relationships.

The movie features some good performances by Joaquin Phoenix and Gwyneth Paltrow. I liked the pairing of these two actors. They are good together and seemed to play off each other quite well. Unfortunately, both of their characters are flawed, and oftentimes hard to care about. I believe movies need people you can root for, and this film didn't have that. There wasn't really anyone to like, and that hurt the film in my eyes.

Unfortunately, this movie just doesn't do enough to hold our attention for 110 minutes. I got pretty bored about halfway through, and had to just force myself to sit through it. The movie telegraphs the ending, and then it's a matter of just waiting for it to arrive. There wasn't much surprising here. The film is interesting, but it's not very enjoyable to watch. It felt like work getting through it.

So, Two Lovers should be commended for not pandering to the audience and instead telling a challenging, difficult, oftentimes likable story. Not every film should make the audience feel good and happy. This is a film that isn't meant to do that. On the other hand, this movie needed to be more engaging. I never cared about any of the characters, which prevented me from really getting into the story. I wanted more. Still, the film features some good performances, and as a result, I'll give this a lackluster 6/10.

Ok, that's two Valentine's Day related movies, and I'll admit, I'm ready for some action and explosions. I'm going to try to stick to more VD appropriate films, but we'll see what happens.