Friday, April 3, 2009
Two Lovers is too forgettable
Posted by Contributing Intern on Fri, Apr 3, 2009 at 12:42 PM
By Matt Brunson
It's not that writer-director James Gray makes bad movies. It's just that it's difficult to remember anything about the movies he makes -- they're so low-key, they make similarly quiet and brooding pictures look as rambunctious as Transformers by comparison. 2007's We Own the Night starred Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg and had something to do with bickering brothers on opposite sides of the law. 2000's The Yards also starred Phoenix and Wahlberg and somehow involved an ex-con with good intentions being dragged back into a life of crime. And all I recall about 1994's Little Odessa is that, uh, it included actors and buildings and perhaps a few props.
Two Lovers seems as likely as Gray's previous pictures to fizzle away, Alka-Seltzer-style, until there's little left but a faint aftertaste. Marginally interesting but not exactly successful, this Brooklyn-set drama casts Phoenix as Leonard Kraditor, who lives with his parents (Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov) after a failed suicide attempt sparked by a romantic fallout. The folks try to steer Leonard into a relationship with Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), the daughter of a business associate, but even as Leonard tentatively tries to make a go of it with this insecure woman, he finds himself drawn to his new neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), a self-described basketcase who's having an affair with a married man (Elias Koteas).
Read the rest of Matt's review here.
Watch the trailer here:
Latest in CLTV
-
VIDEO: Creative Loafing's 23rd Annual Charlotte Theater Awards announcement
-
Video: Dow Jones' 'One More Sip'
New video from Charlotte emcee, Dow Jones.
-
Duke Energy to continue with caveman plan in N.C.
Gather 'round the fire, ya'll.
- More »
Author Archives
-
Friday franchise comedian comes to the QC
Mike Epps and friends to perform at Bojangles' Coliseum
-
Stylin' sneak peak at The ArtHouse
Fashion in the City Mini-Show offers a preview of Step ‘n’ Style “Fashion in the City”.
-
11th Annual Plaza Midwood Pig Pickin', Independent's Day Explosion, Langhorne Slim tonight (7/3/11)
Block party on Gordon Street. A dozen undersigned acts at Amos' Southend. Indie folk and soul artist at U.S. National Whitewater Center.
- More »
Comments (0)