Phoenix gives swan song with ‘Two Lovers’?

In theaters Friday: Bruno, I Love You, Beth Cooper

New on DVD/Blu-ray: Knowing, Push, The Unborn

Is he or isn’t he? That’s what people want to know about Joaquin Phoenix. Is he crazy and drugged up or just pulling our leg? Is he really quitting acting for a “career” as a rap artist or was he a much bigger admirer of Andy Kaufman than anyone ever knew? What most haven’t considered is that perhaps both are true. He may be crazy enough to think this ruse was a good career move, then crazy enough to think coming back from the edge with tons of baggage will be easy. Or maybe he’s a genius and this gag brother-in-law Casey Affleck is filming every minute of will turn into the best mockumentary since Spinal Tap. Whatever’s going on inside his head, Phoenix certainly gave it his all in his “final” film, Two Lovers, which is out now on DVD.

Phoenix stars as Leonard, a slow-to-speak Brooklynite who schleps clothes for his father’s dry cleaning business, and in his spare time takes impressionistic landscape photographs. Having broken up with his fiancé and attempted suicide once, he is crippled emotionally and living back home in his parent’s modest apartment. But his parents, the doting Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov, have a plan to pull him out of his depression. His father introduces him to their new business partner’s daughter, Sandra, played by Vinessa Shaw. Shaw is in on the set-up, having taken notice of Leonard at a recent gathering. But before their romance can heat up, Leonard meets his new neighbor, Michelle, a hot mess played by Gwyneth Paltrow. She’s conducting an affair with a married man who pays her rent, and is holding onto hope that he’ll leave his wife for her.

Paltrow is drawn to Leonard for stability, believe it or not. She wants Leonard to be her safety net, a play toy and shoulder to cry on. All Sandra wants him to do is open up, so she can heal him. As the film flows and Leonard spends increasing amounts of time with both Sandra and Michelle, two life tracks are set out in front of him. Of course he must choose.

The problem is Phoenix’s Leonard is in his mid-30s but really just coming of age for the first time. This is not the kind of protagonist that plays the hero. Manic depressive and lovelorn, Leonard himself needs saving. And that dichotomy forms the tension of the film. It’s an unconventional arc for sure, and there are hints of arrested development here, but these are overshadowed by his wounded honesty, as if he is Holden Caulfield all grown up but scarred by the big bad adult world he was so wary of in his teens.

Directed by James Gray, Two Lovers is slower paced, but not overly talky. In some instances, the film is incredibly lyrical and dreamy, a throwback to quality 1970s cinema. And even though Leonard is an incredibly flawed protagonist, by the end of the film I was rooting for him to make the right choices. This is award-winning work by Phoenix, so I hope he is making the right choices, too.