Two Lovers (November 19, 2008) R

Starring:
Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, The Village)
Gwyneth Paltrow (Se7en, Iron Man, Iron Man 2 2010)
Vinessa Shaw (The Hills Have Eyes, Leave 2010)

The predictability of this film didn't ruin it for me, because the anticipation of disaster can sometimes be as fun as anticipation of the unknown.
I wasn't going to blog about this November 2008 film, but having finally seen it (and it being Joaquin Phoenix's last film...) I felt compelled to share my thoughts.

What maybe ruined it for me was the film's complete lack of a moral message. I try to think of what this film is trying to say, and none of what I come up with is all that inspiring...
I just wrote a list of possible morals and deleted them because they revealed too much.
Granted, there are morals buried in the film, and if you concentrate (like you would on a Magic Eye) you can see them line up.... but, well, you'd need to see it to understand.
I was left with a feeling of "So what?" afterwards.

Anyway, Joaquin delivers a great performance, as always, portraying a confused, messed-up, bla young man who lives with his parents in the Bronx.
The title implies some bad decision making, but nothing prepared me for the stupidity of Joaquin's character.
Gwyneth Paltrow's character competed for the idiot award, and some might say she won, but I don't care because her performance was mediocre and there's probably a dozen actresses who could have done better. Her performance in Iron Man comes to mind... She keeps getting handed these great roles and she does nothing with them.
It would have been possible for Vinessa Shaw's performance to have compensated for Gwyneth's lack, but her character was a minor lead, and wasn't featured enough. Vinessa has promising talent though, always disappearing into whatever character she plays (Such as The Hills Have Eyes and 3:10 to Yuma).

Two Lovers. If you're a Phoenix fan, you still don't have to see it.

Factoid:
What pushed me to blog was that Joaquin's character actually raps in this movie, and Joaquin left acting (in real life) to pursue his dream of being a rap music star.
I couldn't ignore that little factoid...

I wonder if they'd have made him wrestle a crocodile in this film, would he have gone off to be the next crocodile hunter?