FILM REVIEW: Two Lovers

Bubbling underneath this deceptively modest indie romance with Hollywood star power is a tragic drama of Shakespearean proportions, what with the merger of two family "dynasties" (in this case, a couple of modern-day, outer-borough dry cleaning establishments) that goes beyond a mere business deal to include a territorial grab, an arms-length friendship, and even an arranged marriage.

The real subject is emotional claustrophobia, and Joaquin Phoenix turns in a highly nuanced, subtle, Oscar-caliber performance (in what he maintains is his last acting role). Vinessa Smith is quite a discovery, and Gwyneth Paltrow is well cast as the spoiled little rich girl.

Director James Gray devotes great attention to the details of life at the end of the number 3 line, which gives this movie the grit and verisimilitude it needs to be as affecting as Phoenix's stellar performance as the disturbed Hamlet of Brighton Beach.