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Two Lovers

Play trailer Poster for Two Lovers R,  2009,  1h 49m,  Drama/ Romance Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 81% 167 Reviews Tomatometer 59% 50,000+ Ratings Popcornmeter
81% Tomatometer 167 Reviews 59% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Following a broken engagement, sometime photographer Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix) moves in with his parents in Brighton Beach. He soon becomes involved with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), an honest and sensible young woman. They appear to be a perfect match, then Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) enters the picture. Beautiful but manipulative, she wraps him around her finger, even though she has a rich, married boyfriend.
Two Lovers

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Two Lovers is a complex, intriguing, richly-acted romantic drama.

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Critics Reviews

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Simran Hans New Statesman Feb 3, 2021
What's striking about this particular entry in the Phoenix-as-isolated-eccentric canon is its flavour of defeated animal loneliness. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker Apr 14, 2020
Joaquin Phoenix stars-and delivers his most self-scourging performance-in James Gray's taut and melancholy Brighton Beach romance. Go to Full Review
Evan Williams The Australian Jun 12, 2009
4/5
The film never feels dark or gloom-laden. The performances are so sensitive, so convincing, that we are drawn inescapably into a real world of pain and solace. Go to Full Review
Mitchell Beaupre Paste Magazine Mar 20, 2024
9.5/10
No film has captured how we idealize others in relationships better than Two Lovers. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review Dec 15, 2023
2/4
Gray gives us nothing to cling to emotionally, and so he leaves the audience floating in the indifference of open space, hoping for something worthwhile to happen that might make us care. Go to Full Review
Taylor Baker Drink in the Movies Oct 18, 2021
78/100
Episode 49: Hustlers / Ad Astra / Two Lovers / ALTIPLANO Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Hagrid P Sep 17, 2018 hilarious and calculatively ambiguous.. Two Lovers Two Lovers is a character driven romantic drama about a reserved guy who falls in love for two girls and is cornered in a morale conflict that he is definitely not ready for. It is surprisingly flat out hilarious and not forcibly imputed by any whatsoever eerie verbal sparrings but tiny notions that it is brimmed with and mostly relies upon the stunning performances by the cast. The weaving of the structure is smooth and utterly congruent to the tone of the feature where one may not be able to easily filter out the either one. The background score is almost non-existent with decent cinematography and editing where the only thing that stands out on technical aspects is camera work that captures the apt tone and theme of the feature. As it starts aging on screen the web of deceptions and lies grows wide and spirals out which is done with equal passion that may be appropriate but may not be as gripping and appealing to the viewers as the rest of the material does. Phoenix is pure magic on screen, and its purity is reflected on his extraction of the character from the written words and his investment that he implies on each frame of his portrayal, what an actor. His range is from being hilarious and goofy to itensed writhing performance that leaves you in an awe of it and this time he is supported by brilliant Rossellini and Paltrow. The pragmatic conversation that are both hilarious and calculatively ambiguous that keeps the crisp alive, the three dimensional characters around which the bubble revolves around and Phoenix at the heart of it are the high points of the feature. Gray's finesse on execution has always been its gem that it relies upon and as always it pays off. Two Lovers is a convoluted take on simplistic terms and emotions that it fuels itself on. See more
George S Aug 2, 2018 Tiene muchos puntos a favor, la direcciòn, actuaciones y la exquisita banda sonora.
George S Jun 20, 2018 Complex drama full of great performances.
Theodore S Feb 7, 2017 The first two minutes of the film Joaquin Phoenix's character makes a weak attempt at sucide... You spend the remaining 98 minutes cursing his weakness. I am glad the loser he plays is not played "full retard". But he plays it well enough that makes it TOTALLY unbelievable that either of the "Two Lovers" would be interested in him... Don't get it at all... And I did like "Her". See more
Hagrid R Sep 15, 2016 strong contender for most emotionally devastating sex scene ever
Anakin L Jan 17, 2012 Saw this on a sneak. It's hard to find an emotional way into some of these characters. I can't talk about my feelings concerning the characters' actions or motivations without spoiling the movie, so my ambivalence is reflected in the two-and-a-half stars I gave it. See more
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Two Lovers

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Movie Info

Synopsis Following a broken engagement, sometime photographer Leonard Kraditor (Joaquin Phoenix) moves in with his parents in Brighton Beach. He soon becomes involved with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), an honest and sensible young woman. They appear to be a perfect match, then Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow) enters the picture. Beautiful but manipulative, she wraps him around her finger, even though she has a rich, married boyfriend.
Director
James Gray
Producer
Donna Gigliotti, Anthony Katagas
Screenwriter
Ric Menello
Distributor
Magnolia Pictures
Production Co
2929 Productions, Tempesta Films
Rating
R (Language|Brief Drug Use|Some Sexuality)
Genre
Drama, Romance
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 13, 2009, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 15, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$3.1M
Runtime
1h 49m
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