Two Lovers, Three Opinions

By Steven Zeitchik

Polarizing -- Hillary Clinton-Barack Obama polarizing, Yankee-Red Sox polarizing -- is the best way to describe the reaction to James Gray's "Two Lovers," which played on the Croisette late Tuesday night and is one of the trio of big available films on which U.S. festwatchers are pinning their hopes.

The pic, an interfaith love story about a Russian Jewish immigrant family that contains subtle undercurrents of class, stunted adolescence and romantic idealism, sets up a love triangle between the troubled and underachieving Leonard (Joaquin Phoenix), the sensible marriage option his meddling parents favor (Vinessa Shaw) and the taboo and unattainable Michelle (Gwyneth Paltrow, the film's lone underwhelming performance), all against the backdrop of the director's preferred Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, location. (There's a hint of the 2001 Israeli-Georgian crossover "Late Marriage;" the immigrant father in both is even played by the same actor.)

At the party after the Lumiere premiere and into the rainy hours of the night, media and viewers decried the things they disliked, and they had many of them: it was dull, it was dour, the plain-Jane choice was too attractive.

But a smaller and equally passionate group, of which we were decidedly a part, rallied on behalf of the film. There are, first, some obviously strong elements. Gray's an immensely talented director; shots that would be ordinary in another's hands are sublime here. And Phoenix's sophisticated performance is understated in a way that makes very refreshing his well-placed moments of playfulness and self-knowledge. The film also gets the small details of character and culture right, especially in the interactions between the self-made immigrant parents and the more acculturated (and less motivated) son.

But these are small points compared to the larger appeal. There's a gentle emotional rhythm to "Two Lovers" of the kind of one sees frequently in European films (and really frequently in European films here) but rarely found in modern American dramas, which tend toward, well, the melodrama. As a result, it all seems much more authentic, more human. Family dynamics in "Lovers" can be banal, frustrating and rewarding; just watch the way Leonard and his mother (a brilliant Isabella Rossellini) look and at talk to each other. "Two Lovers" is for our money the best American drama of the year to date, even better than Tom McCarthy's "The Visitor."

In an ideal specialty-film world, a buyer would snap up this film, market it as a prestige fall title to older audiences and build an Oscar campaign around Phoenix. CAA, which is selling domestic rights, has a particularly good track record at festivals. But in this cool sales climate there's understandable caution. A Searchlight or Focus could make some hay with this film; at the very least a platform release from a Sony Classics or Magnolia would work as well.

When Gray was last at Cannes -- all the way back in 2007 -- buyers ran around chasing his period crime drama "We Own the Night" for prices north of $10 million. This year the reactions are more measured, and in the end that may be the best thing for both director and movie.

Speaking of directors with the weight of an entire U.S. market on their shoulders, we're starting to hear some worrisome talk about "Synecdoche, NY," Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut which played to buyers last weekend and screens for the media on Friday. Words like messy and ambitious have turned into -- "they spent $15-20 million and ended up with that?" We're hoping it's wrong, but in a market where conservatism already rules, we shudder to think what would happen if a film really laid an egg. The chattering classes at the afterparty alone would be scary.