You know that person who, at all times, is manufacturing their next
1,000 crises and needing constant attention and rescue and affirmation
but offers nearly nothing in return? Maybe they’re sort of exhilarating
and magnetic and you can’t help but want to be around them, until one
day you realize that they’ve never asked you one single question about
yourself and you are an exhausted, moldy shipwreck? This is a movie
about that person completely fucking up someone’s life.
This is also the movie for which Joaquin Phoenix has been doing all
of his insane, beardy, seemingly drug-scrambled press. You can see some
of the same alarming, unhinged tics in Leonard, the character he plays
in Two Lovers—but Leonard is supposed to be
slightly unhinged, whereas Phoenix is supposed to be just pretending.
(One suspects he is not.)
A broken engagement sends Leonard—the sad, spazzy, but
inescapably likable heir to a Brighton Beach dry-cleaning
business—on a few long walks off a few short piers, then to a
mental hospital, then back to his parents’ humble two-bedroom apartment
where, round-shouldered, he shuffles around the neighborhood taking
pictures of human-less storefronts. He strikes up a romance with sweet,
reliable Sandra (Vinessa Shaw), while at the same time becoming
obsessed with his flighty, manipulative neighbor Michelle (Gwyneth
Paltrow—are you interested in seeing one of her boobs? Because
congrats…), the luminous life-ruiner described above.
Two Lovers is a smart, accurate, deftly constructed
film—a catalog of the frustrating, obsessive minutiae of doomed
relationships and unattainable crushes. All of the performances are
excellent (did I mention that Isabella
Rossellini—bonus!—plays Leonard’s mom?), and the conflicts
are absolutely relatable. That does not make it pleasant to watch. As
Leonard rushes, over and over, into Michelle’s emotional traps (“Could
you write something on my arm with your finger while I fall asleep?”
she murmurs, fully aware of his feelings), you just want to grab
everyone by their shoulders and shake, shake, shake. Because we all
know that person, don’t we? Ugh. 
“They” and “them” are not singular. You would think a “professional” writer would know that.
And I think we’ve already seen Gwyneth’s boobs.
Wow #1…how unpleasant. Read the review, which I enjoyed, see the movie or don’t. Why be such a pretentious asshole so early on a Wednesday? Bad coffee perhaps.
@1
The use of “they” and “them” as plural is becoming common because writers, professional and otherwise, feel a need for gender-nuetral pronouns which are not cumbersome (he/she) or absurd (sie, hir etc).
“They” and “them” fit that need.
“Data” is another word which began as a plural and moved its way into the singular. Grammar evolves.
And great review by the way I want to see this movie.
West,
i hope you don’t read all these blog response posts about proper grammar. Why people spend the time to berate others online is beyond me.
Fuck you you sissy internet snobs. Get off your mom’s computer and stop being such twats.
The use of ‘they’ and ‘them’ in the singular has been around for centuries and centuries. It’s not a new thing.
But back to Ms. West’s article. I, too, thought it was a good review, and now I, too, want to see the movie.