Review of Two Lovers (1928) by Jennifer S — 12 Nov 2009

Both leads mix good and bad acting; the script takes shortcuts and Phoenix and each girl have sex before really laying the groundwork for making a move.

With the melodrama, pregnant silences and facial angst, it's kind of like a James Mangold film but quickly written and less ponderous. Whatever the cast and filmmakers try, the attempt feel sincere even if it fails, so that any 3 minutes of film seem careful and unpretentious. The director subtly mixes placid, classical storytelling with some unshowy New-Wavish street shots. And he plays with comic setups for meaningful commentary on the characters.

The movie's most believable aspect is its philosophic one, which comes out of interactions between the characters that are entirely believable. Each main character falls in love based on their sense of their weaknesses, of what would give their life new and complete meaning and strength, make them born again. And it's also a story of what it means to grow up, of a character in suspended adolescence having to surrender the self's amorphous dreams to the world that expects you. Maybe it's the tragic twin of Elaine May's Heartbreak Kid.