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Two Lovers: A Bittersweet Snapshot of Modern Love

BuzzSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:30:18 -0800

There's a kind of achy beauty to Two Lovers, a romantic drama about a man who's drawn to two very different women, as it explores the complexities of attraction. Is it better to be with someone who has similar flaws because she "gets" you and is just as messed up as you are? Or is it a recipe for disaster to put together two people who are messed up in similar ways? Why do we become obsessed? Is the kind of love that's intoxicating and devastating better or worse than a calm love full of respect and companionship?

The story belongs fully to Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), as we see everything from his point of view. Nothing happens unless Leonard sees it (and we see it with him). It's an intimate thing, this perspective. Not only do we root for Leonard, we are living with his decisions alongside him, right from the very first scene - in which Leonard attempts suicide. He jumps into water but eventually surfaces and walks away, back to his parents' apartment in Brighton Beach where we learn that this isn't Leonard's first attempt, and that he is bipolar. The narrative swiftly moves forward as we're introduced to the two women who become the objects of Leonard's affection: Kindhearted family friend Sandra (Vinessa Shaw) and the beautifully damaged Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow). Sandra makes her feelings clear, and Leonard could have a stable relationship with her - along with great joy and support from both families. But Leonard is irresistibly drawn to Michelle, in all her flighty dysfunction, because she's disturbed, confused, and vulnerable - just like Leonard. So, which one should he be with? For some of my thoughts on this story, read more.

Basically, Leonard's just a guy who falls for a woman that he perceives to be just like him. She's insecure and self-obsessed - and Leonard loves that with her he's maybe not the most messed-up person in the room. He likes the idea of being two crazy peas in an unstable pod. But then there's Sandra, pretty and loyal and generous. Sandra even says out loud that she wants to take care of Leonard, but these don’t seem to be the right words for him to hear. With Sandra he can have a nice home and family, close to his parents and the family business - he'll be taken care of in every way. But with Michelle he would get to be impulsive and carefree and best of all he'd get to be near her, this unpredictable woman. The thing is, hers are the very qualities that could send him over the edge during a downturn.

The humble, cozy setting of Leonard's parents' apartment in the old Brighton Beach community gives a meaty, slice-of-life feel to it all. His parents are caring and protective but they also have their own lives and a nice circle of friends. They're happy, and they only want what's best for their son. Perhaps because of the feeling of community and tradition within this setting, Two Lovers feels very old-fashioned, like an age-old tale of love and confusion. It's really not a new story but something about it still feels so authentically modern-day. The end result is a dramatic snapshot that's timeless and yet distinctly belongs to our generation.

Photos courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Trailer For Two Lovers: Intriguing or Lame?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 07:00:21 -0800

Joaquin Phoenix may be retiring from acting, but his project Two Lovers still has yet to hit theaters. In it Phoenix plays a man who. . . has two lovers (played by Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw). I like these actors but from the trailer I just don't know if this movie will provide anything very new or interesting. Take a look and let me know what you think. Two Lovers opens Feb. 13 (Happy Valentine's Day! Ha!).

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 09:30:00 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can view the thriller We Own the Night starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg. Also on DVD today is Romance and Cigarettes, a musical that's definitely not for the High School Musical set.

Gone Baby Gone
For his directorial debut, Ben Affleck brings together a talented ensemble cast that includes his brother Casey Affleck, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan. The film is set in the Affleck brothers' hometown of Boston and is adapted from a novel by the author of another dark Boston tale, Mystic River.

Casey plays Patrick Kenzie, a private detective hired to help bring home a missing 4-year-old girl. In the process, he discovers a complex and disturbing underworld based on the broken dreams of families living in one of the country's toughest neighborhoods.

Relative newcomer Amy Ryan earned herself an Oscar nomination for her portrayal as the little girl's drug addict mother, and our very own Boston native Molly really enjoyed this heart wrenching flick so it's a pretty safe bet for your Netflix queue.

A little depressing? Two more lovey titles are next so read more.

No Reservations
It's often the charming, warmhearted little films like No Reservations that slip off peoples' radars in the summer movie season due to the noise that giant big-name mega-blockbusters make that time of year. If you missed this sweet romance starring Catherine Zeta Jones and Aaron Eckhart I highly recommend warming up some delicious treats and settling in for the night with this movie that I really enjoyed.

Based on the the German film Mostly Martha, the movie follows a hard-hearted top chef, Kate (Zeta Jones) whose sister dies suddenly, leaving Kate's little niece (an adorable Abigail Breslin) now resting in her care. As Kate struggles to adapt to parenthood, she also soon finds herself involved with the new chef in her kitchen (Eckhart). Special features include a Marc Summers visit to the set to talk to the film's stars for an episode on his Food Network Series.

Why Did I Get Married
Tyler Perry sets aside his alter-ego Madea, but preserves his keen ability to create relatable characters in this drama exploring the ins and outs of married life. The movie stars Perry himself, along with Malik Yoba, Sharon Leal, Michael Jai White, Denise Boutte, Lamman Rucker and music hit-makers Janet Jackson and Jill Scott.

Based on one of Perry's plays, Why Did I Get Married? follows a group of married friends that gather in a mountaintop resort to confront their various marital issues. Perry's trademark melodrama and preachiness combined with a more serious subject matter proved to be a very potent mix that really hit home with audiences.

Reservation Road: So Much Potential, Yet Boring

Molly — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:35:33 -0700

Note: Another one from me. I'm on a roll today.

Ever since I read the book Reservation Road a few years back, I thought it would make an excellent movie. I could hardly contain my excitement when I saw the cast - Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, Mira Sorvino, Jennifer Connelly (and personal favorite, Elle Fanning). Unfortunately, I walked out of the theater disappointed. Not because it didn't live up to the book (really, what does?), but because it just wasn't particularly great.

The premise of the story is simple: Ethan and Grace Learner (Joaquin and Jennifer) are driving home on a windy local road on a mid-October evening with their two children. They stop for gas and when their son jumps out to release his caught fireflies, he is killed in a hit and run. Driving the car is Dwight Arno (Mark) who is rushing his young son back to his mother after a Red Sox game. After he hits the boy, which wakes up his sleeping son, he pauses. He makes eye contact for a second with Ethan, and then makes the split second decision to drive away and tell his son they just hit a log. It's an intense opening for the movie - and it's well done. The emotions are all there for the first 20 minutes. Ethan's sadness contrasted with Dwight's huge moral and ethical dilemma. Sadly, the movie cannot sustain the level of intensity they reach in the beginning. Not even close. To read the rest of my review just read more

From there, the movie sets up a series of coincidences that bring these two men together. Ethan's daughter Emma (Elle) takes piano lessons from Dwight's ex-wife (Sorvino). Ethan hires Dwight as the lawyer dealing with the case of his son's death. All of this seems to be leading up to some huge dramatic climax, or realization, or showdown, but the film lags too much for the viewer to even care all that much about what is coming next.

Joaquin, who always seems to be wrestling his own demons, plays the broken grieving father well, right down to the unhealthy obsession with finding his son's killer. I could have done without the internet chat room aspect, but I guess that was part of what was added as they adapted the movie to take place in 2004. Speaking of that recentering, here's a slightly off-topic but good example as to how this movie missed the boat regarding emotion: The movie takes place as the Red Sox were making their historic World Series run, and Dwight and his son are supposed to be avid fans. Yet, at no point are they at all excited. In fact, it seems so thrilling it might just put them to sleep. It's a bit nitpicky, I know, but it's indicative of the larger problem with the movie. There's just not enough feeling.

Jennifer Connelly is convincing as the mourning mother, but then again we all know that she can play sad like the best of 'em. In fact, that's pretty much her calling card these days. It breaks my heart a little bit to say, but the weak link in the cast was Mark Ruffalo. As endearing as he is, I'm not sure that he has the chops (or maybe this just isn't the right role) to play a character so amazingly burdened by his own guilt that he has a hard time functioning.

None of this is to say that it's a bad movie. It's a perfectly adequate movie, but with the stellar cast and interesting story, it could have been so much more.

We Own the Night: Hardly New York's Finest

BuzzSugar — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0700

I wandered into We Own the Night expecting stellar performances that would rescue an otherwise so-so movie. And though the movie was definitely so-so (really, a few notches below), I can't blame the actors. After all, the script - riddled with clichés and sorely lacking any dramatic tension - didn't give the typically talented performers anything to work with.

Set in late '80s Brooklyn and Queens, We Own the Night stars Joaquin Phoenix as Bobby Green, the manager of a wildly popular mega-club. His real name is Grusinsky, and his dad, Burt (Robert Duvall), and brother Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) are devoted servants of the NYPD. But taking up his mother's maiden name keeps Bobby's background from interfering with his hobbies, such as recreational cocaine use and hanging with his hot girlfriend, Amada (Eva Mendes).

But guess what? Dad and Joseph are investigating a drug ring run by a Russian mobster who frequents Bobby's club, and they want Bobby to help smoke him out. The plot reads vaguely like The Departed, but the similarities end there, so read more

Bobby has no interest in being a rat, until his brother is shot and injured by the mobsters. Then he decides to go undercover to capture the bad guy, and the action unfolds from there.

Unlike The Departed and many other gripping police dramas, We Own the Night is neither gripping nor dramatic. The familial bonds that are supposedly so central to the story are hardly felt, since we learn very little about the characters or their motivations. The plot progresses in a very predictable arc, and for anyone who doesn't find it predictable, there is a lot of obvious foreshadowing to help us along.

Mostly, the movie, though unconventional, is disappointingly dull; it feels like an amateur filmmaker trying to make a serious movie. Thankfully, a few elements rise above mediocrity: Director James Gray does an excellent job of visually capturing the bleak but indulgent mood of the New York drug scene in 1988, and a climactic car-chase scene through the blinding rain is expertly crafted. Otherwise, We Own the Night comes dangerously close to made-for-TV fare.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Buzz News Roundup, 9/7

BuzzSugar — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:30:15 -0700

Madeleine L'Engle, author of A Wrinkle in Time and other books, died Thursday at age 88, the New York Times reports.
Death Cab for Cutie is heading back to the recording studio mid-September, says Billboard.
Hollywood Reporter has news that Ralph Fiennes will join Keira Knightley in The Duchess.
Zap2It states that there will be an animated film version of Robotech, with Tobey Maguire producing and lending his voice.
Time Magazine has named its 100 best TV shows ever.
Billboard reports that Ozzie Osbourne and Rob Zombie will team up for a tour.
Will Smith will star in Seven Pounds, a drama about a man who accidentally falls in love while attempting suicide, Variety reports.
MTV is planning a bisexual dating competition show starring MySpace's Tila Tequila.
Variety has the news that Joaquin Phoenix and director James Gray will team up for the third time on the drama Two Lovers.

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First Look: Reservation Road

BuzzSugar — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:18:19 -0700

After outlining the differences between Reservation Road and Revolutionary Road yesterday, you should be all set and ready to watch this trailer for the one of the road-themed movies coming out this fall: Reservation Road. Starring Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix, Mira Sorvino and Jennifer Connolly, Reservation Road is a quiet thriller set in suburban Connecticut.

After his son is killed by a hit-and-run accident, Ethan (Phoenix) goes on a manhunt to find the person who was behind the wheel. Little does he know that the person he's sniffing out lives in the same town and has a young son himself. Trying to come to terms with the incident, Dwight (Ruffalo) falls down a spiral of guilt while Ethan gets closer and closer to sniffing out his son's killer.

The book reads like a creepy, heart-wrenching film, so it should be fairly simple to adapt for screen, though the trailer leaves much to be desired. The movie opens October 19, so to watch the preview, read more

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