Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Gwyneth Paltrow

Directed by James Gray

Two Lovers marks the swansong for Phoenix, who’s dropped acting for hip-hop, as you do. Here he is Leonard, a clinical case that we meet seconds before he attempts suicide.

It’s a credit to director James Gray that he doesn’t make Leonard’s condition an oddity. In fact, it’s the normality of his behaviour that helps make the film so watchable. That, and another electric performance from Phoenix.

He meets the daughter of a business associate who wants to ‘take care of him’ in a creepily maternal way.

But his heart belongs to the girl next door, emotionally stunted Michelle, who’s going nowhere with a married man. She seeks support from Leonard’s friendship, and while you might expect a certain trajectory, remember, people never leave the one they’re with.

Gray takes his films very seriously and makes it clear that we should too. Frankly, the story rests in the heart of melodrama, yet by stripping away artifice, he turns the inherently whiny premise into something much more meaningful.

It succeeds as much as casting Paltrow will allow, though Phoenix is considerably more successful with the unappealing Leonard. Even though Two Lovers wraps up a little too easily, Gray manages to negotiate pain and loneliness thoughtfully, and with grace.