Saturday, March 28, 2009

Two Lovers - Movie Review

Two Lovers (R) 110 minutes B+
Two fine lovers & one man on the edge of a nervous breakdown

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow, Vinessa Shaw, Isabella Rossellini, Elias Koteas, and Moni Moshonov

They say that beauty is only skin deep, but sometimes beauty can penetrate the soul and sabotage your heart. As addictive as any drug it can consume you and make you feel euphoric, and for vulnerable hearts it's even more potent.

Metaphorically, Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) has a weak heart. Four or five months after a broken engagement with his fiancee he is suicidal and unstable. His condition and situation has forced him to move back into his childhood home under the watchful eye of his parents.

As the saying goes, love finds you when you least expect it. Suddenly, Leonard has not one but two fine lovers. Both are beautiful, yet one posses a kryptonite-type beauty that can bring a man to his knees. Leonard's dyslexic heart is no match against this kind of beauty, although (subconsciously) he hopes that her emotional instability will even-out the playing field and provide a common bond.

From a mile away we can see the colossal mistake he is about to make, but I found it hard to blame a heart that doesn't know any better. Choosing to ignore the path of least resistance and riding the wave of raw passion and emotion ultimately leads him to a detour rather than a dead end. Nothing ventured nothing gained, Leonard left no stone unturned and can now bask in the light of a true beauty without side affects.

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