I expected a certain kind of film from Two Lovers: the story of guy meets girl, guy thinks he’s fallen in love with girl, guy meets another girl, then guy thinks he’s fallen in love with other girl too.
What I expected to then follow was an exploration of the way in which love and its manifestations can be shared plurally, not necessarily always equally, but more commonly than most romantics would have us believe. What I got, though related, wasn’t this film. I actually got much more – although I perhaps didn’t realize it as soon as I left the screen.
I wasn’t able to give an immediate answer as to whether I’d enjoyed it. I couldn’t fault the casting, the acting, the directing, and definitely not the opera and light electro woven soundtrack. What I was unsure of, though, was the way I felt about the relationships presented. And Two Lovers is most definitely a film about relationships, as much as the individual – but then, when are the two ever actually separated?
Contrary to what its title suggests, Two Lovers spans three relationships, riddled with infidelity, together posing the question of which is the most dysfunctional. A straightforward, extra-marital affair (complicated nicely by financial dependence, empty promises and children), a healthy dose of infatuation (fuelled by devastating beauty, curiosity and painfully obvious unattainability) and a case of a match so obviously right it could never work (fleshed-out by familial responsibility and a maternal-like desire to fix a broken man). Weakened souls, in the form of despondent, suicidal Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix) and volatile, directionless Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow), seek support, ultimately through love – or at least its forms –, though not necessarily in all the right places. As such, the playing out of their relationship with each other and those around them explores both the restorative and destructive capacity of relationships themselves.
It’s not a film that’ll leave your faith in conventional love strengthened; but then, a title evoking polygamy perhaps doesn’t bode well. It is, though, one that poses some relevant questions concerning modern day relationships, and one which presents, often with flinch-inducing accuracy, those “I’ll see myself out” moments. Perhaps, where lovers are concerned, it’s never always been all fidelity and roses; but I’d venture to say that, today, the rules are changing, and perhaps this is a film that responds to this.
Two Lovers is a love story, and unlike many that spill out of Hollywood, it’s an honest one. But hey, if that’s not enough, it’s your chance to catch Joaquin Phoenix in his last role before taking up full-time rapping… Life’s a funny thing.