Bravely wearing his heart on his sleeve, James Gray directs the tender and terrific Two Lovers as an antidote to the virus of hip. Forget the setting in modern Brooklyn. You watch Joaquin Phoenix yearn for Gwyneth Paltrow, the blond goddess-next-door, and it could be Marlon Brando putting his first tentative moves on Eva Marie Saint in 1954's On the Waterfront. This is delicate business, the kind of lost art that usually gets crushed under the jackboots of the trendy.

Phoenix, in one of his…

A beautifully made romantic drama that provides a great showcase for the acting talents of Joaquin Phoenix -- in what he insists will be his last role.

Story

Leonard (Phoenix) is a sensitive and depressed man in his 30s who moves back into his parents' apartment after being involved in a terrible romantic breakup. He works for his father's cleaners business, but his true interest is photography. After he is set up with the daughter (Vinessa Shaw) of his parents' best friends, he suddenly becomes…